Band of Brothers: Brothers in Arms
by Bret Baxley
Summary: Characters from Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan & Saints and Soldiers come together to fight a common foe.
1. Chapter 1

BAND OF BROTHERS: BROTHERS IN ARMS

Chapter One

The Great Day

(I do not own any of the characters in Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan or Saints and Soldiers but I love the characters in all of them.)

Corporal Frank Perconte finished packing his gear and looked around. There was such a flurry of activity around him as men prepared themselves for war. One young man in particular caught his eye. He seemed a bit apprehensive.  
"Private, you got all your gear packed?" he asked him trying to sound sure and strong. He, too, was feeling apprehensive.

The young soldier looked to the corporal and saluted. "Sir, yes sir. I have all of my equipment packed," he replied. "Ten minutes," they heard a yell which meant that it was almost game time.

"Private, don't salute anyone. The enemy would love to kill anyone they think is an officer. Looks like they're starting to load up," he pointed at the other C-10s.

"Got it sir," he said starting to but then hesitated to salute.

Stephen Gould adjusted the straps across his shoulders. He had checked and rechecked all of his medical supplies and was ready for anything. Seeing the Private Russo he nodded. "It's almost time," he said nervously.

"Yes sir," the Private nodded.

Captain Lewis walked by the men looking them over. "It's almost time. Get ready, men," he ordered as he went to speak with the pilots.

Eugene Roe checked his gear. He hoped he had enough medical supplies for the trip over, at least he had another medic and he was sure they'd find more when they landed. As he rubbed his hands together and walked down the line of men, asking if they all had their medical kits. He was a nervous wreck inside, but didn't show it on the outside.

"Doc," Gould nodded to him. "You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be. You? How you holding up?" His Cajun accent became a bit thicker just then.

"Bit nervous about the jump, hope nothing bad will happen. But I guess that's where we come in."

Smirking, he rummaged in his pack for a cigarette. "Want one?" He asked.

"Yeah, thanks." Gould's hands shook a little as he lit it. "I'm alright."

"I'll be glad when we get there. You got enough supplies?" he asked again forgetting that he had just asked him that same question not five minutes ago.

"We'll need the medics to load up, too," Lewis shouted at them.

"Ah, Captain Lewis, do you want us both in the same plane?" Doc asked him.

"HELL, NO!" he looked at him like he was crazy. "We don't need to loose both of our medics if the plane goes down. Let me see," he looked at a paper on a clipboard. "This can't be right! You're both assigned to 003?" He shook his head. "If this plane goes down and you both die, I will be ready pissed if I loose both of my medics. I suggest neither one of you dies," he pointed at them both.

"Yes sir," Doc replied and gave Gould a comical look as the Captain moved away. "He won't be the only one pissed. It'll tic me off something awful."

Gould chuckled at Doc's reply. "I wouldn't be none too happy, either," Gould chuckled.

Frank walked up to the two medics. "Can one of you check to make sure my parachute is secure. It feels a little loose."

Roe shook his head and laughing with Gould as he stuck his cigarette back in his mouth and he checked out Jimmy's parachute to make sure everything was good. "It's a bit loose," he muttered around the cigarette, but tightened it. "There you go, Perconte," he patted the shorter man's shoulder.

"Thanks, Doc," Perconte grinned

"And for the last time I don't plan on getting hit. It'll take a lot more to kill Eugene Roe," he told Gould.

"I like the way you talk, Doc," Gould grinned.

"Gotta keep a positive attitude, keep things on the ball. No use being negative when there is a war going on." A plate was stuck in his face by a private "What's this?" Doc questioned, looking closer. "Ice cream? They are giving us ice cream?"

"Ice cream?" Frank looked at the dessert. "Mmmm! I want some. You got any Rocky Road?" he asked the Private but was instead handed a plate of Vanilla ice cream. "That'll do fine," he took the plate then plopped down to begin eating, or rather more inhaling it. "Why would they give us ice cream this time?" he asked.

"Maybe they think we won't be coming back," Doc wondered out loud.. "Well, at least it's something. Only wish we got ice cream back at basic instead of spaghetti. Remember that? Got through half the plate when the company C.O. comes barreling in, telling us to run Currahee. What a mess that was."

"That wasn't spaghetti, Doc. That was a figment of your imagination." Luz said while walking up to the group of men.

"That was the worst spaghetti I ever had. If my sainted Mama had been there she'd slapped the cook. Still it'd been nice to finish it instead of runnin' an' pukin'." Frank opened his mouth to take another spoonful of ice cream when he thought about what Doc had just said. "They think we ain't coming back? Ah, I wished you hadn't of said that. I just lost my appetite."

"Ah, sorry Frank. I'm just thinking out loud. We'll make it back, I promise. We'll be back in the states before Christmas. Then you can enjoy your sainted Mama's cookin'," he smirked and rattled his helmet.

Captain Lewis walked back and forth watching the men. "Enjoy, gentlemen, this'll be the last ice cream you have for some time. Check and recheck your gear. You medics have all the supplies you need?"

Eugene smiled at Captain Lewis. "Yes sir, we're all set. Just pray. If our plane goes down, y'all be in a world of hurt."

George shoved a large spoonful of ice cream into his mouth only to grab his head afterward "What the..." he paused "Ow! My head hurts. Damn ice cream," he whined. "So, anybody not gonna eat their ice cream?" Luz asked and one of the privates shook his head and handed it to him "Good, more for me then."

Eugene looked over a Luz and chuckled "You're supposed to eat it slowly, not in one bite. Don't come running to me with that sort of problem," he teased him.

"GREER! NATHAN GREER!" a Sargeant called out.

"HERE!" Deacon answered raising his hand.

"Mail Call!" the Sargeant handed him an envelope

Deacon shook his head no when he was offered the ice cream as he opened the letter from his mother. "Ah, damn no!" he said out loud.

Frank heard him and looked at Luz and Doc uncertain of what to do.

Luz snapped his head towards Nathan. "What's going on, Deac? What's the matter?"

"Ah, my dog died," he said disgusted as he wiped a tear from his eye. "She was a golden retriever and I raised her from a pup. Why on all days did my Mother have to tell me this," he balled up the letter and stuck it in his pocket."Stupid dog just got too old."

Luz raised his eyebrow and looked over at Perconte. He was trying so hard to not crack a joke. He wasn't sure how to approach this one. "Just think of all the Germans you can kill in your dog's honor," he suggested hoping Deacon wouldn't freak out.

Deacon nodded. "Yeah, my first Kraut will be for Duchess. She was my best friend for years. Yeah, you're right, Luz," he smiled at him sniffing his nose and laughing slightly. "Thanks."

"Can I have your ice cream?" Frank asked him.

Deacon laughed, "Help yourself, Frank."

"You never stop do ya, Perco? I swear you'll be so fat one day we won't be able to carry you if you get hit," Luz laughed.

"I can't help it," Frank said as he took Deacon's plate and started eating. "I love ice cream."

"What if we're in some fox hole and it's freezing cold outside? You gonna eat the snow?"

"No, but if I'm fat I can keep you warm," he grinned and the others laughed.

"Gee, thanks Perconte. I'm gonna go shoot myself now just to get that mental image out of my head."

"You two don't ever quit do ya'? Arguing like you're brothers," Roe smirked to himself, washing his plate that had ice cream on it so all these things wouldn't be sticky.

"Thanks, guys. You did make me feel better. For that I'm grateful," Deacon said blowing his nose on a handkerchief.

"Listen up, men," Lewis spoke to them all. He was now in full gear, weapon and parachute. "Have a sit down," he told them. "Doc?" he nodded to him. "Doc is going to hand you some air sickness pills. Swallow them with a sip of water and listen up." He paused for a moment and looked at each of them. "I'm proud to serve with each and everyone of you. Good luck. God be with you. I'll see you in the assembly area. Load up." He saluted them and shook their hands as they entered the plane.

Roe quietly handed them out to the soldiers. A thousand things were racing through his mind. This was it. The big drop.

As each man loaded John Lewis shook their hand and spoke to each one.

"I want you two medics in different places on the plane. If something should happen at least one of you may survive," he told them both.

"Yes sir," Gould nodded. "I'll get in the back, Doc," he told him and boarded sitting across from Perconte. The inside of the plane was eerily quiet.

Doc nodded, patting Gould on the back. "See you on the ground," he muttered not sure if he heard him or not. He went ahead and took his air sickness pill, almost coughing it up. It tasted horrible. With that he got on the plane and waited. This was the one part he hated...waiting.

His gear made it difficult to get on but with some help Deacon was able to find his footing and boarded the plane. The airsickness pill he took was beginning to make him feel slightly drowsy so he closed his eyes after he sat down and sighed. The day they had been waiting had finally come. After all the men had boarded Captain Lewis finally boarded himself.

The props of the C-10 came to life with a steady, thunderous rumble causing the plane to shimmy. It taxied down the runway, one of many in line.

One by one they took off into the air filling the skies. Soon the pilots joined the formation of hundreds of other C-10s and headed West towards Normandy and destiny.

* * *

Luz sat back and tried to ease the sickness in his stomach. Those damned air sickness pills! With the plane rocking back and forth he was having a hard time trying to not spew everywhere. His color started to fade a bit as he hung his head.

Frank had the guy sitting next to him exchange places so he could sit by his friend. He put his hand on Luz's shoulder and patted it. "You want to get a medic for you!" he yelled trying to be heard over the rumble of the engines.

Gould saw Perconte wave him over so he moved to him squatting down in front of him and Luz.  
"What's wrong?" he spoke loudly trying to talk over the engines.

"I feel sick, Gould. Like I'm going to die actually. I think it's those air sickness pills Doc gave us." He raised his head a bit only to put it right back down and cover his mouth.

"Yeah, we are, too! Take deep breaths and try to relax. It'll pass soon."

"TAKE YOUR SEAT, SOLDIER!!" he was told.

"You'll be alright, Luz," he patted his knee and took his seat.

Luz groaned and rested his head against the wall of the plane. Unscrewing his canteen he took a sip. Roe handed him some saltine crackers.

"These will help settle your stomach," Eugene told him.

Luz nodded a thanks and slowly chewed on them.

Lewis sat closest to the open door as they flew. He could see the other C-10s flying all around them. Below they passed over Navy ships leaving trails in the water as they moved across the English Channel towards the beaches of Normandy. It was as though the whole world were moving in one direction towards one destination. It was dark and he could see the reddish horizon as lights began to dot the land ahead of them.

Looking back at the men he watched them.

Some stared seemingly into space, others nervously tapped their fingers, some played with their clickers, smoked cigarettes, or said the Rosary. Each man prepared himself in their own unique way.

He smiled slightly as he watched George Luz and Frank Perconte sitting beside each other. Luz lit Perconte a cigarette and handed it to him before lighting one for himself. They were best of friends but complete opposites. George was always cracking jokes while Frank always whined. Like salt and pepper. But braver men you couldn't find.

Nathan Greer always seemed to have the world on his shoulders but he was one of his best soldiers. Honest and brave, many of the younger men looked up to him.

Doc Roe, the Cajun healer. Fearless, dependable, undaunted in his duty towards the men.

Stephen Gould, the physician. Gould had been in medical school when he was called up to serve.

Both medics were lionhearted, seeming not to realize or care about the dangers around them if the men needed them. They had become fast friends and colleagues each possessing great courage.

And so many other brave men who either flew or sailed across the Channel. What they would accomplish that day in June 1944 would change history forever.


	2. Chapter 2

Band of Brothers: Brother in Arms

(disclaimer: I don't own the Band of Brothers nor am I receiving any money from this. I know it may read somewhat confusing at times but my purpose is to cause the reader to feel confused which is what the men were feeling. I hope it reads well for you and you enjoy it.)

**(Thanks so much for your reviews BrokenAngel1753, xKiagax, . & Eleanor GreanLeEf. I had all but given up on this story thinking no one was interested. It's very encouraging to find out otherwise.)**

**

* * *

**Chapter 2 - More Brothers

Gould mentally kept going through his head all the medical supplies he carried, over and over again, hoping he had not forgotten anything.

_"Iodine swabs, sulfa powder, tourniquets, gauze bandages, compression bandages, morphine syringes, sutures, boric acid ointment, plasma bottles, needles, clamps, scissors ..." _he spoke softly to himself

Glancing over at Luz he nodded. George seemed to have gotten over his air sickness.

Deacon drummed his fingers nervously and thought of his parents in Kansas and wished he was there with them now. He wondered about his brothers. Tom and Joe were Navy men, the other, Mike was in the 82nd Airborne and was probably in another plane getting ready to jump like he was. Jimmy, the youngest, was still in high school. Would he see any of them again?

Eugene closed is eyes for a bit, trying to mentally prepare himself for the invasion to come. The last thing he wanted to do was show the rest of the men that he was afraid. On the inside he was screaming. wanting to get out, but all that mattered was that they all get to the ground safe and sound.

The low drone of the engines were interrupted by the ever increasing sound of explosions as black clouds of flack sent metal fragments into the air. The sound of ping, ping, ping could be heard as the shrapnel bounced off the planes. The red light came on so Winters stood up motioning with his hands for the men to also stand.

Roe, being near the front, stood and hooked up. This was it, all the training they'd been doing. All the yelling Captain Sobel had done, all the running up Currahee, this was where it was finally going to pay off.

The plane rocked back and forth. The pilots were having difficulty controlling the plane. The pings of shrapnel still hitting the plane over and over.

Frank's hand shook as he hooked his chute up up the metal cord and waited. The other men were taller than him so he leaned slightly to be able to see Wimters.

When Luz stood up his stomach dropped again. The plane jerked sending him crashing to the side. He was having a hard time keeping his sickness down. Next time he wouldn't take the damned pills, if there was a next time. He grabbed onto Perconte for support as he stood back up.

Sounding off for equipment check, Deacon patted Luz on the shoulder, The plane jerked and swerved suddenly. The C-47 next to them exploded into flames and veered across their nose. The pilots radio squealed and squelched with other pilots' frantic voices. When Deacon realized it was a plane going down he couldn't speak, he couldn't breath. He only saw a flash of fire as the plane turned nose down and disappeared in the darkness. He prayed he brother wasn't in it.

Gould could see Eugene up front and wondered if he was as scared as he was. His stomach turned and he now began to feel like Luz. Taking a big gulp of air, he tried to steady himself. How would it look for both medics to also be sick?

The light turned green by the open door.

"LET'S GO!!" Winters ordered the men and jumped out of the plane. He felt the shock of his parachute open. As he floated down he could see tracer fire from weapons below. All around him were open parachutes. He had never felt so helpless before.

Eugene jumped out after Captain Winters. Looking down at the ground he could see where the plane had gone down and he could see shells whizzing past his head.

Gould landed in a thicket. It was dark and he couldn't tell where he was. Quickly ditching the parachute, he listened. It was quiet. Quiet and dark. Where was everyone? Where had the other men landed? In a world whose sky was filled with floating men he felt very alone.

Roe landed just a few yard from Gould. Quickly ditching his parachute he reached down realizing that his leg bag was missing. He had no weapon, just a small knife. Running towards a thicket he hid behind a tree trying to catch his breath and calm his nerves.

Gould heard some noise behind him and reached for his leg bag. All he found was a broken piece of rope. "Flash!" he called out the signal, hoping he'd receive the right reply.

"Thunder! Who's that?" Roe asked, thankful it wasn't a Kraut. Hopefully this person had a weapon with them.

"Doc? It's Gould! Over here! Straight ahead."

"Thunder," Johnson also answered the signal, thankful to find some Americans.

Gould turned towards the unknown voice. "Who's there?" he called out in a hoarse whisper.

"Pvt. Johnson, Sir. 82nd," he came out of the shadows holding his weapon.

Roe rushed next to Gould. "Stephen, thank goodness. I take it you lost your leg bag too, huh? Damned things," he snapped his head towards the sound of the unfamiliar voice. "82nd? Jesus, we're all spread out. You got a light, Johnson?" he asked as he pulled out a map and a compass. "We've gotta figure out where we're at."

"Yes, Sir," Johnson answered, as he handed him his flashlight. "101st? Where the hell are we?"

Luz finally landed on the ground. He had no problems getting out of the plane, though right at this moment he finally vomited, unable to control his stomach any longer. Quickly he unhooked his gear and grabbed his rifle, running to find some cover.

"I'm Corporal Gould. This is Corporal Roe," he introduced them as he watched Doc look over he map.

Roe studied the map carefully. "Well, we've missed our DZ," he said finally. "Bad news is, we've got no weapons on us and we're about maybe two miles from where we should be. And if we get attacked by Germans we're pretty much dead."

"But I'm armed," Johnson told him, showing them his weapon.

"Alright, Johnson, you're with us and hopefully we'll be able to find your company. I, for one, am grateful to have you along. Now, we won't be sitting ducks." taking a deep breath, he handed back the flashlight and pocketing the map. "Guess Sobel's training did help," he smirked.

Frank stuffed his parachute under a bush and grabbed his weapon. He heard firing to his right and moved away from it cautiously. Where was Luz? Gould? Doc? Anybody?

"Which direction, Roe?" Gould knew they were supposed to go to St. Marie Dumont.

"This way. Maybe we'll find the rest of Easy and maybe some of the 82nd," he sighed. "Wonder where Perconte and Luz are?"

"Maybe we'll find them eventually. Come on, Johnson. Let's go." Gould said and followed Doc. Slowly they moved away from the sound of firing.

"You're both medics?" he asked as he followed them.

"Yep, how'd you guess?" Gould said, jokingly knowing the crosses on their arm bands and helmets gave it away.

Roe shook his head and smirked. "Aw, come on, Gould, don't scare the kid away. Besides he's the only one that's got a weapon.

Johnson snickered. "It's alright, Sir. I've got a brother who's a medic."

"Really? Good man."

George heard some talking to the right of him, he grabbed his rifle and put it to the ready "Flash!" he called out hoping it was somebody he knew.

Johnson was the first to answer. "Thunder!" he replied, aiming his weapon just in case. He didn't recognize the voice. "Who's that?"

"Gould! Doc! It's great to see you two," Luz smiled as he approached them, but gave a questioning look towards Johnson. "Who's this?"

"George Luz, good to see you. This is Johnson from the 82nd. He's as lost as we are."

"82nd? Jesus Christ, what the hell happened?" he looked at the guys. "Any idea where we are headed?"

"I'm guessing miss drops. I was supposed to come down in St. Mere Egliese. I couldn't tell you where it is," Johnson said.

"Well, we need to move and find Captain Winters.. Johnson how much ammo you got? Forgive me, I'm Sergeant Luz. Gentlemen we need to move." He heard gun fire near where they were standing .

"I've got several rounds in my musette bag, Sir," he answered Luz, but then heard the gunfire "I suggest we go now."

Luz picked up his weapon and headed out. He heard some talking up ahead. "Flash!"

"Thunder!" came a voice. As George moved closer he realized who it was. "Liebgott? Martin? Boy, am I glad to see you two."

"Good to see you boys," Gould smiled. "This is Johnson with the 82nd.

Liebgott looked at Johnson. "Hey, Johnson you got cigarettes? What about some food? You got extra food? Yeah, you need that too, otherwise you'll starve."

Luz glared over at Liebgott."Shut yer yap, Liebgott. Leave the kid alone. You got extra ammo?"

Liebgott sulked for a moment. "Yeah, so does Martin, isn't that right?" Martin nodded his head.

Luz sighed. "You guys seen Captain Winters?" Leibgott and Martin shook their heads no. "Damn. Come on you guys, let's get going."

"Flash!!" Frank called out from a thicket when he heard Liebgott's voice.

"Jesus Christ. Now who is it?" piped up Martin. He looked over. "Perconte? That you?"

Luz looked over. "Hey! Frank Perconte, I wondered where you were. Did you fall into a hole and not able to get out?" Liebgott laughed and smacked the guy on his back.

"Good to see you, Frank," Luz smiled at him.

"Man, am I glad to see you fellas," Perconte grinned widely.

When Liebgott slapped him on his back, Frank looked up at him. "I could hear you before I saw you. With a mouth like yours you could get us all killed." Turning to Luz he smiled, "Did you say 82nd? Jesus, they got everybody dropped all over the place. I saw some dead 82nds hanging dead in the trees. Sorry, hope they weren't buddies of yours."

"Jesus, I hope not," Johnson shook his head. "You got a weapon?"

"Yeah. Where's yours Doc?"

"Perconte, great to see you." Roe patted him on his back. "Weapon? Ain't got one." his Cajun accent becoming a lot thicker than it had been in a while. "Had one in my leg bag. Lost it on my way down. All I got is some sizzuhs, morphine and a knife. You seen Captain Winters?"

"No, you fellas are the first ones I've since I've landed." Frank told him.

Behind them came the sound of gunfire again which made them all duck. "I think I'd like to leave now," he said.

"Yeah I do, too," Gould agreed.

* * *

Captain Winters had landed in an entirely different area and had met up with Nathan Greer. They had not seen a soul except for German artillery. Slowly they made their way towards the DZ at St. Mare Dumont. Stopping to catch their breaths they began softly talking.

"Where are you from, Sergeant?" Winters asked him.

"A small town in Kansas, Sir. My folks owned a farm there."

"Any brothers in the service?"

"Yes, sir. Two in the Navy, one in the Army, in the 82nd. My youngest brother is still in school."

"Oh, yeah? The 82nd? Good men. You should be proud of him. Well, we need to keep on the move," he said as he took a drink from his canteen.

"Yes, Sir," Deacon replied and followed him through the forest.

"Why are you called Deacon?" Winters asked him. "I mean, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Not at all, sir. My father is a preacher. When I was a kid some bullies picked on me calling me the deacon. It sort of stuck. At first I hated it but after awhile I didn't mind it."

"Kids can be cruel," Winters nodded listening to him.

* * *

Luz and Gould checked the map again comparing it various landmarks to gain their bearings. It was quiet now in the early hours of the morning but it was still dark.

"Alright, here is the railroad tracks," Gould pointed on the map. "St. Marie Du Mont is approximately 6 kilometers due east. If we follow the tracks, it should lead us close to where we need to go."

"Good job, Gould. I was just curious where exactly we were," Liebgott quipted. "Hey, did you guys see that plane go down on our left? It went down in a heap of flames."

"Yeah, I saw it," Frank said, as they walked along the tracks. "Damn shame."

* * *

The sky was beginning to lighten when they heard the familiar called go out.  
"Flash!" and they answered, "Thunder!"

Three soldiers stepped out from behind some bushes. It was light enough now for them to see.

"Morning, fellas," the tall one greeted with a thick Southern accent as he stood on the railroad tracks balancing his sniper rifle on his thigh, his face smeared black with face paint. "We had us a problem with a sniper 'while ago, but he won't be givin' us no mo' problems," he told them looking at Doc and Gould. "Wade'll be glad to see you two. He's the only medic we got right now. He sho' could use your help. You two, watch the line," he told the other men. "I'll show them the way. If'n all y'all follow me I'll take you to HQ."

Gould looked at Doc. "If' all what?" he asked, puzzled. Gould was from the West Coast and didn't understand Southern lingo.

"All y'all. It means all of us," Roe chuckled.

"Oh," Gould understood. "How many wounded do you have? Ah ... what 's your name, Private?" Gould asked him.

"Oh, sorry. Jackson ... my name's Jackson. Daniel Boone Jackson. And we've got a pretty good amount. Wade tried savin' as many as he could. But it seems the more that come in, the more wounded they brought with 'em. Y'all are the first medics we've seen all day, besides Wade."

The group of tired soldiers followed him towards a large farmhouse and barn filled with hay. Allied soldiers swarmed over the area.

* * *

Under a small green tent T-4 Medic Wade sighed, disgusted.

"Just move his body over there," Wade told two soldiers who were helping him. That was the seventh one to die before he could even get to him. He had fifteen wounded he hadn't even had a chance to triage yet and he was quickly running out of supplies. If this kept up he didn't know what he'd do. "Harris," he said to one man bleeding badly from his leg. "I need to remove that bullet out or you'll bleed to death, but I've only got a few syringes of morphine left. Think you can handle the pain?"

Harris nodded and prepared himself.

"I'll be glad when they can get some damned ambulances here," he mumbled to himself as he began digging into Harris' wound. "Hold him down!" he yelled at the two men helping him as Harris screamed and squirmed.

"Doc, I'm gonna go help with the wounded," Gould told Roe as they neared HQ. "Jackson, show us where your infirmary is set up."

"I'll check in and come help as soon as I can," Roe nodded to Gould.

* * *

Deacon looked over a map with Captain Winters. "We're almost there," he pointed on the map. It was early morning and they had no need for a flashlight.

"Very good," Winters grinned at him as he patted him on the shoulder.

* * *

Jackson led them down a muddy path to what looked like a large barn next to a brown brick house. Allied soldiers gathered in small disorganized groups looking at the newcomers with interest.

"I do believe the 101st has a few men inside but I couldn't be certain," he waved towards the barn, "but Wade is set up in a tent over by the house. It was the only place with running water," he told to the medics.

Finally coming towards a clearing, they were greeted by the same call of _FLASH!_ to which they gave the correct answer. A young Private showed them the barn where the Allies were gathering.

"You're a good map reader, Deacon," Winters smiled as they headed towards the barn.

"Thank you, Sir," Deacon smiled.

It had many men in it but he didn't see any 101st. In the center were several bales of hay stacked and they stopped there to remove their gear and relax.

"I got a damn blister rubbed on my heel," Winters said, as he sat on a bale of hay and took off one of his boots.

Roe nodded his head to Gould and headed towards HQ. As he got there he saw a familiar looking face "Cap'n Winters?" he asked, surprised. "Thank goodness, we thought we'd never see you again. How was your jump?" he asked and looked down at Winters' boots. "You having problems with your feet Cap'n? Let me take a look at 'em."

"Doc? Good to see you. Yeah, I've got a blister on my heel. It's been bothering me. Who's with you? Perconte! Luz! Liebgott! Martin!" he looked at Johnson and Jackson. "You've multiplied," he joked.

Deacon shook hands with all of them. "Good to see you boys made it. You didn't loose Gould, did you? I liked him."

"Nah," Roe answered after shaking his hand. "He went to help at the makeshift hospital they've got here. Jackson said they only had one medic and he was in dire need of help."

"Ah, ... Doc, you got anything in your bag to help my foot? I can hardly walk on it. Which one of you is Jackson?" he looked up at the two newcomers.

"I am, Sir," Jackson raised his hand. "I'm with Charlie Company, Sir, but I haven't found any of them yet. We came under heavy fire and got scattered but not before my C.O. and most of my company was killed," he explained.

"I'm Johnson, sir," Greg answered when the Captain looked at him. "I'm with the 82nd, Sir. We got scattered like feathers in the wind. I couldn't tell you where my company even is."

"I understand that," Winters nodded knowingly. He took his sock off so Doc could look at his big blister. "I'm surprised we even found each other," he was referring to his men. "You two stay with me until we can find your units."

"Well Capt'n it's bleeding, I'll fix it up in a jiffy and go help Gould at the field hospital," Doc said reaching into his pack and began bandaging Winters' heel. "Did you manage to keep your leg bag?"

"No, I lost it somewhere before I landed. Luckily, Deacon had his. OW! Man, I didn't realize I'd hurt it that bad."

* * *

Wade finished with Harris and, after bandaging his leg, went on to the next soldier that seemed to have the worse wounds. He was getting very worried about his supplies. He was almost out of sulfa powder and bandages and only had three syringes of morphine left. Two soldiers who knew nothing about medicine had been assigned to help him. If a wave of seriously injured men came in he knew he couldn't help many.

After asking around Gould finally found the crude field hospital. There was a very busy medic at work bandaging a leg. Quickly going to him he introduced himself. "I'm Stephen Gould," he unloaded his equipment. "I heard you are in need of help."

"You are the best thing I've seen in some time," Wade smiled up at him. "I'm Irwin Wade. I hope you have some supplies. I'm nearly out."

"I've got a full pack of supplies. And there's another medic coming in a bit."

He began triaging the wounded and picked a soldier with a wounded shoulder.

Roe finished patching up Winters' foot "Now Cap'n, you gotta try to stay off of it. Change your socks each day along with your bandage, let me know if it starts to bleed again." He stood up "I'm gonna go find Gould and help at the field hospital. I'll see you boys later." With that, Roe wandered off towards the make-shift hospital. He saw Gould standing with another medic "Capt'n Winters had a bit of a problem with his foot. But now I'm here."

Gould was putting a sling on one man when he heard Doc's voice. "Alright, soldier, your shoulder will be alright. Just have a seat under that tree until we can get you out of here," he told the soldier as he stood up. "Is the Captain alright?" he asked Doc as he washed his hands in a basin of water. "Oh, that's Wade," he nodded his head towards the medic. "Wade, this is Doc Roe."

Wade, who was bandaging a man's leg looked over at him."You don't know how glad I am to see you fella's," he grinned up at Doc. "Just pick you a man," he motioned his head to where a large group of wounded were either laying or sitting on the ground. "None are priority, they're are routine. This is Goodman and Fisk. They'll help you with the men if you need them to."

He looked over at Wade and nodded. "How you fixed for supplies?"

"I'm in desperate need of some. I've had to ask the men for theirs from their aide kits."

Doc listened to Wade for a moment "Where you from Wade?"

"Where am I from? Texas - Dallas, Texas. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious Wade. Always trying to figure out where people are from."

Martin came up behind him "Yeah, the Doc is always wondering about stuff like that so he can kill you later."

Roe turned around and shot him a glare. "Alright, Martin, the first time you get shot in the ass I'll let you bleed to death. How about that?"

Martin shook his head. "No thanks Doc. Hey, you need some bandages? I've found some sheets laying around. I'll roll some up for youse guys."

"Thanks, Johnny," Gould said to him. "Those could come in handy. Yeah, Doc and I been working together for several months now. Fate seems to keep throwing us together. Ah, Goodman is it? Bring that fella over here. The one with the broken arm," he nodded as he brought what looked like a young kid over. "Man, seems they keep getting younger and younger." Cutting away the shirt Gould looked over his arm, set the bone and applied a splint, then put a sling on him. "How did you keep from going crazy, Wade?" he looked at the dead bodies covered in their blankets. "You must have had to do some hustling."

"It was crazy for awhile. Wasn't sure if I was going to make it or not. But I lost seven guys. I hate to loose any of them. Just kills me. Ah, shit," he shook his head as he pulled the field dressing off of a soldier's leg. "This leg is south of cheese. All I can do is re-bandage it and hope they can ship him out soon."

* * *

Nearly an hour later Wade looked around and saw there were no more wounded. "I can't believe we got caught up. Let's take a break." After washing the the blood off of his hands in a basin he sat down on one of many bales of hay that were scattered around and lit up a cigarette. "All I need now is a drink of whiskey and I'll be set," he chuckled.

"We got caught up?" Gould looked around. "I'll be, we are. Damn, we're good," he patted Doc on the shoulder. When Wade suggested they take a break he nodded a yes and followed him out to the bale of hay and also lit up a cigarette.

Roe sat down taking some of the sheets Martin had. "I'll finish this, thank you, Johnny." Martin nodded his head, grabbed his rifle and headed back to the rest of the company.

Eugene started to tear the sheets down the middle, making them smaller and rolling them up. "How long you guys think we'll be here?"

"There's no telling," Wade said in between drags of his cigarette.

"Corporal Wade," a young private interrupted them. "Sergeant Major told me to tell you that a mobile hospital is on its way here now and should arrive within the hour."

"Thank you, Private," he answered him. Looking at both of the other medics he grinned. "That's the best news I've heard in sometime. We might be moving out of here soon."

* * *

Jackson was with Captain Winters and the other men talking. Lighting up a cigarette he leaned back checking his rifle and ammunition. "I sure would like plate of my Mama's fried chicken about now," he licked his lips. "Some homemade biscuits and a big ole' glass of sweet tea. Any of y'all ever have any cane syrup? Ain't nothin' better than a hot biscuit with a big glob of fresh butter on it drenched with some cane syrup. Lord have mercy, that's some good eatin' right there."

Frank frowned. "What the hell is he talking about, Luz?"

"Frank, I think he's talking about his Mama's cooking. You know how you always talk about stuffing your face with pasta or spaghetti or whatever else you eat," he quipped, smacking the shorter man on his helmet. "Not everybody can be like us Italians. Some of them are like Doc Roe. You know them Cajun like people. The ones that eat their young." Some of the guys laughed as he lit up a cigarette.

"Oh, you mean like my Mother's homemade lasagna? Ah, why'd you have to go and talk about food? Now I'm hungry." He got a funny look on his face and leaned over towards Luz as he peered over at Jackson. "Do they really eat their young?" he said very lowly in Luz's ear.

Jackson heard him and laughed. "Yeah, Frank - we eat our youngun's. We put them in a blender and make mint julips out of 'em. Hey, you know, that's something I've never had? Got shitfaced on my daddy's whiskey when I was twelve. After I puked up more than I drank he whipped the tar out of me."

Roe looked over at Luz and Perconte and Jackson. "We not only eat out young but we also eat small women and men, too. Tastes like chicken," he smirked, taking a long drag out of his cigarette.

"Say Jackson, where you from?" Roe asked him.

Jackson nearly rolled off of the haystack he was sitting on when he heard what Doc said, "Tastes like chicken," he roared. "But it's real good with cane syrup." After regaining his composure he looked at Doc. "I'm from 'Bama. I'm guessing you're from Louisiana."

"Yeah, sure am. Bayou Chene, Louisiana. Cane syrup you say? Boy, I ain't had any of that since I was just a boy. My grandmother use to use it on just about everything. Fine woman," he gave a small smile and watched Luz pick on Perconte.

"I knew you were a true Southener," he laughed. "But I always heard a Cajun will eat anything that won't eat him first," he teased.

"Depends on what's trying to eat me," he chuckled. "But then again, we Cajun's don't tell. We're all about secrecy and voodoo."

Liebgott turned his head towards the group. "Jesus Christ, Doc, voodoo? You mean with spells and that sort of junk? Remind me not to piss you off, or get wounded for that matter."

Franks eyes widened. "You mean like sticking pins in dolls and using chicken feet to curse people? Ow!" he jumped up grabbing his butt. "Something stuck me!"

Luz just sat there next to Perconte with a huge grin on his face and a sharp piece of straw in his hand trying so hard not to laugh. "Well, look at that! Somebody's got a voodoo doll shaped like you and stuck a needle in its ass!"

Martin and Liebgott roared with laughter.

"Doc?" Frank looked at him. "Did you do a voodoo trick on me?"

Luz shook his head. "Do you really think Doc is some kind of voodoo priest or something?" he feigned being angry, "You think he'd be here right now? He'd probably use that stuff to get out of the Army. Bet he even used it on Sobel."

"Yeah!" Frank laughed. "Sobel needed some voodoo done on him. If there was a doll of him I'd stick a needle in his heart."

* * *

Wade came over to see Gould and Doc. "Well, I have some good news and some bad news," he told them. "The good news is we now have a mobile hospital set up. There's a surgical tent equipped with doctors and they have ambulances to take the wounded back to England."

"What's the bad news, Wade?" Gould asked him.

"He won't be working with them," Winters interrupted as he limped up. "He's been reassigned to us and we have an assignment, Gentlemen." He laid a map down on top of a hay bale. "If you will gather around me. You too, Jackson," he waited for a moment as they gathered around him. "We will be combining forces with Dog, Able, Fox and Baker Companies for a thrust into Orleans. We are expecting to meet hostile forces. There is a supply of ammo behind the barn so make sure you have all the ammo you can carry. And you medics make sure you have enough medical supplies. I'd say three times as much as you normally carry. We will be leaving within the hour so get what you need and meet me back here ASAP. Jackson, I need to talk to you."

"Yes, Sir," he answered, as the rest of the men dispersed.

"I'm proud to have you with us, son. I've been needing an extra sniper and I hear you are one of the best. Glad to have you with us, Private," he reached out and shook his hand.

"Thank you, Sir," he returned the handshake with a smile. "Glad to be serving with you."

"Don't you think this is strange they'd have all three of us in one company?" Gould said to Doc and Wade as they got their supplies. "I mean, three medics in one company? I got a funny feeling about this," he shook his head.

"I hadn't thought about it till just now," Wade answered him. "We must be going into what they think is a hot zone. That's why the Captain told us to get extra supplies"

"Wonder if we could get some supplies from that medical group that just came in to relieve you, Wade?" he looked around for a moment. "We need to hustle, gentlemen."

* * *

Jackson was on his way to get some ammo when a young soldier from another company stopped him. He told him about his brother who was in the Marines and said his brother had sent him a picture of him with a fellow Marine who looked just like him and even had the same last name.

Jackson looked close and was surprised to see a soldier that did looked exactly like him. "That's my brother, David Jackson. It's good to know he's alright. Can I have this picture?"

"Yeah, sure," the Private told him.

After getting his ammo he went back into the barn where they were beginning to gather, so he sat and studied the picture, a tear threatening to escape his eye. "Stay safe, David. Stay safe," he softly told his brother.

Frank had several musette bags filled with bandoleer clips when he returned to the barn. Seeing Jackson he moved over by him. "Whatcha got there, Jackson?" he peeked over his shoulder at the picture.

"Oh, it's a picture of some Marines. I guess they're fighting over in the Pacific. Wanna look?" Jackson handed the picture to him.

"Oh, yeah? Yeah! Let me see!" he took the picture for him and looked it over. "I bet there's native women all over the place there. Hey, look! There's one that looks like you, Jackson," he pointed to a man. "Is he a relative? He could pass for your twin brother."

Jackson just smiled. "He is my twin brother."

"Hey, Perconte! Jackson! Y'all got your aide kits handy? If so, keep them with you and pass the word out to the rest of the guys. Y'all got plenty of water?" Doc checked with them.

"Hey Doc, found a couple of bandages and some more morphine on those dead Krauts over near the woods. Here ya go," Jackson handed them over.

"EASY COMPANY!" Winters yelled out. "LET'S HEAD OUT!!" he ordered.

Roe gladly took the bandages and handed some to Wade and Gould.. "Well guys, it's now or never. Glad to have you two with me. This better be one hell of a fight."

Liebgott looked over at the group of medics. "Well, you guys don't have to worry about too much. except for the Krauts shooting at you, and the artillery exploding above your head."

Martin smacked Liebgott on his head. "Leave the medics alone. They are the only ones who'll fix you up if you get shot in the ass."

"Thanks, Doc," he put the bandages into his kit. Listening to the men talking Wade chuckled at their antics. "They talk like that all the time?"

Roe looked over at Wade "Yeah pretty much. We've been through basic together. Guess we formed a tight knit family. The only two you should worry about is Luz and Perconte. Those two fight like an old married couple. But all in all I wouldn't serve with any other men."

"I'm glad to be a part of you, now. About time I got with a good bunch. Well, Eugene, Stephen, shall we join them?" he snickered. "Before we get left behind, that is," he patted them on the shoulder, the first real show of any camaraderie he'd shown.

"Hey, it's a pleasure having you with us, Wade," Roe smirked.

Liebgott turned to Martin "Hey Martin, have you noticed that Doc never calls anybody by their nickname?"

Martin looked over at Liebgott "Yeah. So what? What's that got to do with anything?"

Liebgott shrugged his shoulders and continued walking.


	3. Chapter 3

BOB:BIA

Chapter 3

"Hey, Doc. Isn't Orleans named after New Orleans? May be you got some family there. I didn't know Cajuns came from France."

"Yeah, it probably is Perconte," Roe took out a Lucky Strike, lighting it and taking a drag. "And I doubt I've got any family here. Everybody I know is still back in the states."

"Perco, do you still have my picture?" Jackson asked him.

"Yeah, hey you guys look at this. Jackson has a twin brother fighting over in the Pacific," he held the picture out for them to see. "That's him right there."

George ran smack dab into Perconte. "Jesus Frank! Come on, you're holding up the line. Family photo time is later. We need to move or we'll be sitting ducks for the Krauts to shoot at."

"He's right, Perco," Jackson snatched the picture from his hand and, folding it, stuck it inside his shirt pocket.

Right at that moment Luz felt his stomach drop. "Ah jeez, Jackson, I didn't mean it like that." He cut himself off and decided to not open his mouth again unless he was asked a question.

"Nah, it's alright, Luz," he answered him. "We need to keep alert. The sniper I killed was heading off in this area. There could be enemy anywhere."

"Gentlemen, keep alert. Luz is right. If you stop you make yourself a target," Lewis scolded them. "Let's keep the talk down to a low rumble. No need in letting them hear us before they see us."

Moving up Roe stopped by Jackson. "So your twin brother is in the Marines? That's really something."

"Yes Sir," he answered the Corporal and pulled out the picture for him to see.

* * *

They walked on for several miles and Frank had been quiet for all that time but he was about to pop. "Luz, where we going?" he asked frustrated.

Luz rolled his eyes and looked at Perconte. "Frank, I don't know!" He said slowly. "Ask Captain Lewis. He knows it all. But I'm sure you'll be able to shoot you some Krauts here soon."

"You see that hedgerow up there?" Jackson pointed. "We're going to the other side of that," he teased.

"Oh, that's just great, genius," Perconte rolled is eyes. "What I'm talking about is where? Where exactly are we going? We never seem to know where we're going until we get there. All I want to know is ..."

His conversation was cut short by the sound of German machine guns as someone yelled, **"GET DOWN!"**

Frank hit the ground with the rest of his company.

Another shout went out. **"GET TO THE HEDGEROWS! QUICK! HURRY!"**

Frank stood up and ran as a man beside him screamed and dropped to the ground yelling for a medic. Frank never felt his heart beat so hard as he heard bullets whiz past him. When he reached the hedgerow, leaves and small branches rained down on him as they were being cut by bullets.

Roe went into full combat mode. He grabbed some morphine from his pocket and ran towards the front of the line to inspect the wounded man. He had a leg wound, it didn't seem too bad. Grabbing a bandage from his bag and set to work. The man's leg kept bleeding profusely and Eugene tried to fix it. All the time German artillery shells exploded trees around him and bullets went whizzing past his head.

He started to curse loudly in French unable to get the man he was working on to settle down. "Gould! Wade!" He shouted looking down at the man he was helping. "Come on, Jimmy it's alright, it's just a small cut. Hang tough." He looked back up not seeing the two other medics **"Gould! Wade!"** He practically screamed. Where the hell were they?

Wade heard Doc call and ran to him. Bullets whizzed past him and one hit his canteen sending water spraying everywhere. Dodging running soldiers, he made it to Doc who was kneeling over a young man that was bleeding badly. "Here, I've got a hemostat. Let me clamp off the artery," he said as he pulled the scissor-like instrument from his pack. Working quickly he tried stop the flow of blood.

Gould was tending to a man whose leg had been blown off. Doing his best to wrap the leg to protect it, his hands were red with blood as he worked. "No, don't look at it," he tried to shield the man's view of his leg with his body. A spray of bullets whipped across the man's chest and he went limp, his eyes rolling back in his head. "God damn it!" he slammed the bandage on the ground in anger and frustration.

"Fuck, com'on! Com'on!" Wade cursed as he tried clamping the pumping artery. The cries of "MEDIC!" were all around them. Wade wanted to help them all. "Shit! God damn, com'on! There! There, I got it! I got it!"

Frank could see the hedgerow on the other side of a field so he lowered his rifle and began firing. It was hard to see any targets as the Krauts were camouflaged in the thick brush. They had not gotten any training in this type of warfare.  
"Shit, I can't see anyone!" he snarled.

"Aim for the muzzle flash," Lewis said. "That's all you can do."

"Wade you got this one? I'm gonna go help some others. If you need anything just yell." With that Roe took off and patted Gould on the back "Come on Alan, let's get going." He said as he ran past the man and to another soldier who had been hit in the chest. Doc grabbed some morphine and some bandages along with his pair of scissors and went about extracting a bullet from the young man's chest.

"What's your name trooper?" He asked.

The young man looked at him. "Jeff. Jeff McKay." He muttered and rolled his head to the side "Morphine."

Roe looked at Jeff closely. "I can't. I'm sorry I can't if I do it'll lower your heart rate and you won't..." He was cut off by the kid shouting "NO!" loudly. A shell burst near where he was kneeling, a piece of shell lodged into Eugene's neck but he stayed fast treating the man. He had half of his arm in chest.

While he tried extracting the bullet Jeff coughed up of blood and his breathing went shallow then stopped. Roe's face grew angry and he removed his hand from the wound. Cursing loudly in French he threw the bloody bandage on the ground.

"Doc, you got some shrapnel in your neck. Let me take it out before it works its way deeper," Gould said reaching for him.

Eugene shook his head. "I'm fine, we've got more wounded to take care of." He muttered and headed off to treat another soldier who'd been shot in the neck. This time Roe wouldn't fail.

Liebgott and Martin fired their weapons into the bushes trying their best to fight the Krauts. Liebgott kept yelling curses while Martin kept his cool.

Shifty Powers was a quiet man from Virginia. He managed to become one of the snipers of Easy Company. Hiding behind a tree, every once in a while he'd peek out to find the enemy and pop off some rounds into a Kraut's heads.

Meanwhile, Doc Roe managed to fix up the wounded man who got hit in the neck and went to another who'd been shot in his chest. The wound didn't seem too bad. He cleaned the wound and gave the soldier some morphine for the pain and once again set out to extract the bullet.

Wade worked on a soldier with a leg wound and got the bleeding under control then moved to an unconscious man to check on him. The middle of his body was blown away and he stared at the sky with lifeless eyes. Another soldier was screaming from a wound in his side. Wade checked it, bandaged it and gave him a shot of morphine before moving to another wounded man.

"One!" Jackson yelled and looked over at Shifty. "Two!" he yelled again after firing his sniper rifle. "Three! How many you got, Shifty?" Jackson snickered as a bullet bounced off the tree he was behind. "Why you little bastard!" he yelled at the German and raise his rifle again aiming and firing. "Four! He won't be shooting anyone again.

Shifty looked over at Jackson. "About twenty so far." He smirked and went about his business.

Liebgott and Martin ducked from a shell burst near the both of them. They managed to split up and continue their heavy firing.

"I'm almost out of rounds!" shouted Liebgott.

"Didn't you pay attention to orders, you Jew?" shouted Martin.

Liebgott looked over. "What did you just call me? Aw, you know what Martin fu..." He was interrupted by a shell hitting the tree he was hiding behind. Martin's stomach dropped and he raced towards his friend finding that he was alright.

"Jesus Christ, Liebgott! Don't do that again! You had me scared beyond my wits," Martin barked and went back to his position.

Meanwhile, Roe finally finished with the man who had a bullet in his neck and headed to the next wounded man. This one had part of his leg blown off. It was maybe a few inches from the rest of his body. "Good Lord." He muttered and went about fixing what he could.

"Twenty? Jesus ... I need to get busy," Jackson snickered.  
Just then a shell blew up near him sending him sailing backwards. Hitting his head on a rock and he blacked out.

Roe saw Jackson get hit and quickly ran towards him and dragged him away from the front lines

"Shit!" He shouted "Ce n'est pas grave? Ce n'est pas grave?" He tapped the younger man's face. "Jackson? Come on, wake up."

He then felt a warm sticky substance on his hand and looked down. "Damn it!" He grabbed a bandage and some of his powder packs to help stop the bleeding. "Hey, Jackson!" he muttered and for the first time Eugene felt vulnerable. This could be him at any moment.

Wade looked up seeing Jackson.  
"Oh, God!" he gasped and rushed for him just as Doc reached him.

Jackson opened his eyes looking up at Doc. "What happened? Oh, shit ... my head hurts," he sat up touching the back of his head. He felt wetness and looked his hand. "Oh, crap ... blood. Ah, damn," he passed out but this time from fright.

Wade chuckled at Jackson's reaction. "Just bandage his head and let the poor fella sleep off the battle. Hey ... do you hear that?" he frowned. It had gotten completely quiet. Neither side was firing. "Is it over? Captain Lewis, what's going on?"

"Wade, keep him awake. He may have a concussion. If he does he's in a world of hurt. We need to get these wounded out of here or they'll die."

Lewis looked over at them. "It appears either our company has either moved on or taken a break. Sit tight, men. Keep alert. Fire at any movement. Pass it on," he told his NCOs. "Marlarkey, Muck, Toye, Blithe, Popeye -- help Doc and the other medics move the wounded to the rear. Luz, call HQ and tell them we need ambulances Q.T. and tell them to be aware of enemy patrols."

"Jackson! Wake up! Jackson!" Wade held an inhaler to his nose. "Come on, Jackson. Smell the stinky stuff. Wake up."

Jackson's eyes flew open. "Phew!" he brushed Wade's hand away from his face. "Get that thing away from me. Ow! My head, what happened?" he reached around and felt the bandage wrapped around his head.

"You hit your head on a rock. Just sit still, you might get dizzy if you get up too quick. We need to check you out first."

Roe grabbed Marlarkey and Toye and set out to get the wounded to the rear "Come on, now. Ready? Lift." They lifted one of the men, who'd had his leg blown off, on a stretcher and then came back for another wounded man.

Malarkey tried to pick up another one a few feet away. "Malarkey, that one's dead," Roe said quietly. Each of the men that died he managed to collect their dog tags and write in his little book who it was and how he died.

"I'll be alright," Jackson said. "Don't send me back. I can do more good here."

"That's not an option, Jackson. Just get checked out and then come back," Wade told him as he helped him into a jeep. There were two men tied down to the trunk on stretchers. "In fact, I'll go with you. Muck, tell Doc I'll be back. I'm going to the rear."  
With that he hopped into the jeep and the driver took off heading for HQ.

* * *

Finally the last of the wounded were loaded and taken to the rear. Gould found a fallen log and sat down on it lighting a cigarette. Sighing he closed his eyes and tried to gather himself. This was his first real battle and he was overwhelmed by it all and surprised by how actually calm he was during the worst part of it all.

Roe, too, finished up sending the wounded men to the rear and got word that Wade was going with them as well. He sat down on the ground and put his head in his hands when he suddenly remembered the burst of tank shell in his neck. He walked over to Gould.

"Hey Stephen, patch me up," he told him.

"Oh, yeah; I forgot about you, Doc. Come here," he got up setting his cigarette down and looked at his neck. "Ah, it's just a small piece of shrapnel."  
Taking out a pair of tweezers he pulled it out of Doc's neck. "There it is," he showed the piece to him before tossing it away. Sprinkling some sulfa powder on the wound he covered it with a small bandage. "You want some morphine," he snickered.

Roe smirked. "No, keep the morphine. I have a feeling we may need it again," he patted his friend on the back. "Hey, thanks for that Gould. You and Wade did great work today. But we lost a few guys. I got their dog tags. It's a damn shame."

"Oh ... here's a few more for your collection," he reached into his pocket and pulled out two more dog tags. "Moen and Luchessi." He picked up his cigarette and resumed smoking after he sat back down on the log. "If it wasn't for this war this would be beautiful country," he said looking at a field of wildflowers growing in the distance.

"Twenty," muttered Roe. "Twelve being taken back to HQ, the other eight are dead. Jeff McKay died in my arms, that poor kid. He was only eighteen. I told him I'd get his stuff back to his Ma." He sighed loudly and closed his eyes briefly.

"You got any family, Doc?" Gould asked him after a short silence.

"No," he said finally, and paused a moment "My grandma was the last family member I had. She died before I shipped out to boot camp. You know she was a Cajun healer. Fine woman. You?"

"My parents and my brothers. They're all younger than me. But that's all," he answered as took a long drag of his cigarette before stomping it out. "What do you plan on doing when you get back, Doc?"

"I don't know what I'll do when I get home," He answered and looked down at his hands. They were shaking badly. "Jesus, Gould, you see this?" He showed him his hands.

"Jesus, Doc - are you alright?" Gould put his hand on his shoulder.

"I don't know," he mused. "Should we tell Captain Lewis?" He thought about it for a moment and decided against it."No, no, he'd send me back with the wounded. I'm not coming off this line. How you fixed for supplies, Gould?"

"I'm good for now," he answered. "I brought extras. How about you?"

"I'm good. Wade should be coming back here soon. Hope those guys are alright." He grabbed a cigarette and lit it.

* * *

After making sure the men and Jackson got to the hospital safely, Wade searched for a way back. He wasn't needed anywhere as the mobile hospital was fully equipped and manned. After trying in vain to secure a ride he decided he'd walk back, a risky maneuver, but one he was willing to pull to get back to his company. Walking down the dusty road he kept an eye out for anything when a jeep pulled up beside him.

"Going my way, big boy?" Jackson laughed. A driver and a machine gunner rode with him. Jackson sat in the passenger side, his sniper rifle balanced on his leg, the barrel pointing to the skies.

Wade was never so glad to see anyone in his life. Happily crawling into the jeep it sped off towards their destination. "How did you get out so soon?" he asked him.

"Never underestimate the gift of gab," he chuckled. "I simply convinced the doctor I was desperately needed by my unit as I was the only sniper so they let me go. So, here I am – Oh, and this is Stoffard and Rosenbeg, our chauffeur and protector," he introduced the driver and gunner.

All Wade could do was chuckle and shake his head at Jackson's spunkiness.

After a short while they pulled up close to where the men had been situated and saw Doc and Gould sitting on the log together.

"Hello, boys," Wade said walking up to them. "Missed me? Our mighty warrior came back."

Roe looked up, trying to not strain his neck too much "Jesus, look what the cat drug in. Hey Jackson, how'd you get out of that hospital so fast? Wade, how's the rest of the guys looking?"

"They didn't need to keep me," Jackson told them. "The head is fine, just got a bump on it."

"They're all being shipped back to England," Wade told Doc. "But everyone we sent back survived," he grinned happily.

"Lucky bastards," Doc muttered. He heard some ruckus from behind him. "Captain Lewis, what's going on?"

"We're pulling out. Seems our "friends" pulled out some time ago. We figured it was a small company. Get your stuff and fall in," he told the four men. "Jackson, good to see you. Let's go."

"Thank you, Sir," he answered and moved to join the rest of the men.

"You three medics spread out. If all three of you were killed we'd be in sorry shape," he ordered them.

Eugene walked behind Lewis. "Hey, Captain Lewis, how's the foot?" He asked. "And I've got a list of casualties, so far."

"Sore ... bit I'll live. How many did we loose, Doc?" he asked sadly.

"Twelve are at the hospital, eight dead." He played around with the small bag he had for dog tags. "Jeff McKay died in my arms. He was eighteen, not even old enough to buy a beer." He paused for a moment. "Let me know how your foot is Captain. Can't have you going out of commission." He scratched at the bandage around his neck.

"Eighteen? Damn. Not even old enough to buy beer," he sighed disgusted. "Four dog tags? Next time we send someone back make sure those tags get to HQ, Doc. My foot? I'll be alright. It's not too bad. How are the other two medics taking it? Gould I know, but Wade is new to me. He seem alright to you?"

"I'll get the tags to HQ don't you worry about that." When Lewis asked him about their new medic friend he thought for a moment before answering "Wade? He's a good kid. He's good at it like Gould and I are. He didn't even turn and run, he stuck with us, running from wounded man to the next. I tell you he's a good asset to this company."

"Good, glad to hear it. I was watching him back at HQ and he looked like a good man. I didn't want what happened to dog company happen to us. I heard one of their medics was killed and the other turned and ran. Keep a tight rein on them though, Doc. Sometimes the medics are targeted. Thanks, Doc." He noticed him scratching at a bandage. "What's wrong with your neck?"

"They are good guys, Captain Lewis. I don't think they'd run. If they wanted to they would have done it by now. I think they are here for the long haul." He cleared his throat. "My neck?" He looked confused for a moment then it hit him "Oh, small wound. Got a piece of shrapnel lodged on the side there. Gould took care of it."

"Alright, Doc. Keep up the good work. Next stop, hopefully, will be Caen. The closer to Paris we get the worse the fighting will be so watch your supplies and tell the others the same."

"We got it taken care of." He took out a cigarette and lit it.

Liebgott looked over at Martin. "Hey, Martin, thanks for earlier."

Martin turned his head towards him. "What you talking about?"

"You know, when that tree I was hiding behind exploded. You, uh, you came over to see if things were alright," muttered Liebgott.

Some of the guys snickered. Martin rolled his eyes. "Doesn't mean I'm gonna marry you, Joe."

Roe turned to the two of them and grinned. "Y'all are about as bad as Perconte and Luz."

Martin looked over. "Hey, Doc, don't make me hurt you."

"I doubt you could Martin. Besides I've got my own ways of taking you out."

Liebgott laughed. "Yeah he'll kill you with some morphine."

Frank walked several feet away when he heard Liebgott, Martin and Doc talking. "Hey, Luz ... I think they're talking about us. I could have sworn I heard them say our names."

"Yeah, I heard it too." He looked over at them, almost glaring "Hey!" He piped up "Yeah, youse guys what you talking about?"

Liebgott turned around. "Oh, nothing just you two fighting, kissing and making up like an old married couple." The guys all laughed.

"Did he say we was kissin', Luz? 'Ey! Goomba!" he yelled over at them. "Luz ain't my type," he said and then chuckled looking at Luz but stopped when he saw the scalding look on his face. "Well, you're not," he gulped.

He laughed then realized what he said. "I'm not what?" He glared at the shorter man "I ain't your type? So you're saying I'm not good lookin'? I tell ya', Frank Perconte, I got plenty of dames back at home. And I can do the same here." Some of the men laughed, others shook their heads and kept on walking.

Luz kept silent for a moment. "I'm good lookin'," he whined feigning insecurely.

"Well, ... yeah ... for a guy, I guess." Frank said feeling bad about hurting his friends feelings but when he saw the twinkle in Luz's eye and knew he was teasing him. "Ah, hell, Luz," he growled. "I'm never gonna talk to you again," he huffed off walking ahead.

The men around them roared with laughter.

Luz smirked. "But sweetheart who will take care of the children? And who will cuddle with me late at night when I have those bad dreams?" He laughed, the men roared with laughter. "Perconte? Jesus...Perco come on!"

"No! Stay away from me," Frank said disgusted and walked faster. Suddenly a man ahead of him hit the ground, the back of his head blown out. Frank froze unsure of what to do and then they heard a shot. "SNIPER!" someone yelled and Frank hit the ground.

"Holy shit!" Luz muttered. "**Perconte!** Hey buddy, you alright?" He questioned desperately.

Shifty Powers looked over at Jackson. "Hey Jackson, did you see where that sniper was? Maybe you and I can tag team him, make him confused?"

Ahead of them was a small village with a tall church steeple.

"JACKSON! SHIFTY! FIND THAT SNIPER!" Lewis shouted as he lay on the ground.

Between them and the village was a small wooded area.

"YES SIR! LETS' GO, SHIFTY!" he shouted and made his way towards the trees. "You see anything, Shifty?" he asked looking towards the church tower.

Frank's face was covered with the man's blood as he lay there looking at brains splattered on the ground. He could hardly breathe.

Luz ran forward and grabbed Perconte and dragged him back from the dead man. "You alright Frank? You hit anywhere?"

Shifty nodded and looked around, seeing a brief movement in the bushes across the field from them. "Jackson, 200 yards or so in the middle of that grove. You see him? I don't think I can get a clear shot of him from here."

"Yeah, I see him ... wait, there's movement in the tower." He looked through his scope. "Careful, he's looking. Get down," he squatted down behind a tree.

Looking over a Shifty he talked softly. "300 yards - one target on the ground. You take the tower - one target."

"I'll get him Jackson." Piped up Shifty. He leveled his rifle and looked through his scope, and he waited for the man in the tower to make a move. When he did Shifty fired off his round, hitting his mark right smack dab in his forehead.

Jackson squeezed off a round at the same time hitting the enemy below the tower.  
"Good job, Shifty," he said rolling over and sitting up. When he moved to stand up where he had been laying, a shot hit the ground. "Watch out, Shifty! In coming! You see where it's coming from?"

Meanwhile Luz stayed near Perconte. "Hey, you alright buddy? Talk to me." He shook his friend ."Come on."

"Luz," he looked at George, his face ghost white. "They killed Anderson. They killed Anderson." He said over and over shaking with fright.

Luz patted his friend on the back. "It's alright Frank. At least it wasn't you. You're one lucky son of a bitch. You alright, want me to call Doc Roe for you?"

Shifty looked closely. "To the right! It's to the right!"

Looking through his scope he saw a shooter, fire blasting from his muzzle as he aimed at him and Shifty. Squeezing the trigger he fired and the shooter dropped. Waiting a moment to see if there were any others he neither saw nor heard anyone else. "I think we got'em, Shifty," he finally said.

Shifty gave a thumbs up. "Hey, great job, Jackson. I'm glad you're on our side."

"Same here," Jackson chuckled at his comment. "I'd hate to face you in a fight. Signal the Captain. We need to see if there's any others."

Wiping the blood off of his face with the back of his sleeve he finally looked at Luz.  
"G ... g ... give me a c… c … cigarette, Luz," he said. His hand shook as he took a puff and blew it out. "Oh, shit Luz. He was right in front of me. That could have been my brains on the ground." Seeing the deep concern in Luz's eyes he grinned slightly trying to reassure both Luz and himself. "I'm alright. I'm aright."

Luz lit a cigarette for himself and studied his friend closely. "You sure you're alright? Thankfully it wasn't you. Don't let it get to you, Frank. Besides I'm not done with you yet." He gave a small laugh and relaxed a bit.

Roe grabbed the dog tag from the soldier who had been shot and stuck it with the rest of his collection. "Nine! Nine Gould, can you believe it?"

Shifty ran through the lines until he found Captain Lewis. "Captain, we've killed some enemy snipers. There might be some more hiding, perhaps Jackson and I can stay at the front of the line in case we do get hit again?"

"I want that church checked to make sure there are no more hostiles in it. Martin, take Shifty, Jackson and six more with you. The rest of us will check the town. Alright, we'll use the buildings as cover. Let's shoot n' scoot. Do it now," he ordered them.

Roe ran over to Lewis. "Captain Lewis, nine dead. Perconte almost got hit, thankfully he didn't. He's on nerves end, but I think Luz is doing a good job of getting him situated."

Martin looked up. "Shifty! Jackson! Liebgott! Luz! Perconte! Guarnerre! Malarkey! Webster! Up on line! Let's go gentlemen, Captain's orders. Let's kill us some Krauts! Be careful, don't stay stationery for long. You guys know the drill."

Lewis shook his head at Doc's comment about Perconte. "Keep Luz and Perco in the back for now. Doc, you and the other medics come in behind us. I want to keep you protected. Let's go, Gentlemen," he ordered and they moved slowly using the trees and then the buildings as cover.

Jackson followed Martin as they made their way to the church. Hopefully it'd be empty.

Roe nodded and stayed behind with the Captain and the other medics. He rummaged around in his pack to make sure he had some sulfa and morphine out just in case something went wrong.

Martin led the eight men towards the church. They all spread out in their rightful positions. When they neared the church more gun fire erupted from blasted out windows and doors. "Everybody return fire! Come on gentlemen, we must take this church." He raised his weapon and fired.

Liebgott and Malarkey grabbed some grenades and lobbed them towards the church, sending a huge explosion of rubble everywhere around them.

Then suddenly fire opened up on their left. Another German company suddenly found their way to the patrol. They were in a world of hurt.

Jackson made his way to the church where he could use the walls as protection and immediately began firing at the Germans. "SHIFTY! LOOK OUT!" he yelled as a German advancing on him with bayonet drawn. Jackson shot him down before he could hurt him. "That's nineteen," he laughed.

"Aw shit!" Shifty yelled, looking down at the German and kicking his head softly to make sure he was in fact dead "Thanks Jackson. And so far I've gotten twenty five." He smirked and went about firing his weapon.

Roe stood in the rear, a bit anxious what with all the fighting going on. He was ready to get to the first man injured.

Martin kept looking over to his left while firing in front of him "Damnit! Captain Winters! A whole 'nother company's gonna destroy our left flank! We need to do something!"

"SET THOSE MG's HERE!" Winters yelled out and it was done. They caught most of the Germans in a cross fire. "BRING HELL DOWN ON 'EM, BOYS!" Standing he fired over and over never missing. "KEEP IT UP! MAKE 'THEM' DIE FOR 'THEIR' COUNTRY!"

Eugene just stared at Captain Lewis, in a state of awe. He hadn't ever seen him like that before. One of the new guys, Walden, fell on the ground clutching his neck. Eugene mulled his options for a whole two seconds and ran out from the position behind the trees and reached the young man who was currently sobbing hysterically.

He grabbed some sulfa from his pack, ripping it open he applied it to the wound. Some mortar rounds from the German's whizzed past his head. He ducked, looked around and went back to patching up the kid in his arms.

Liebgott looked over at him. "Jesus Chris, Doc, get back behind the lines! You crazy fool!"

Malarkey shook his head. "You should know Liebgott! Remember our little boot camp training with Sobel?" He fired his weapon until he ran out of rounds and put in another clip.

Liebgott reloaded his weapon "Yeah? So what?" He shouted.

Martin looked at the two. "Will you two shut up and fire?"

"Twenty! Twenty-one! Twenty-two! Twenty-three!" Jackson kept counting when he wasn't quoting scripture. "O my God, I trust in Thee: let me not be ashamed, let not my enemies triumph over me." Then a thought hit him. "Shifty, let's head up in the tower. We'll have the advantage up there."

Eugene saw another man, Franklin, fall from a piece of shingle from the roof hit him in the side. Once again, sulfa and scissors. His hands didn't shake and all the while he kept his mind focused on helping the man on the ground.

Shifty nodded to Jackson. "Alright." He ran up to the side of the door, giving a thumbs up. He kicked in the door and started to fire at anything inside.

Meanwhile Roe tried to calm the wounded soldier, mortar shells exploded all around him, leaving holes and dents in the ground.

Racing up the stairs they could look down on everything. "They're hold up behind some berms. If we bring fire down on them there it will take a lot of the pressure off of our boys."

Shifty nodded his head and set his weapon up and aimed it. It was the perfect cover, the perfect idea. He waited for Jackson to get situated.

Meanwhile Doc Roe tried to get the bleeding to stop on Franklin's stomach. It wouldn't. It just kept pouring out. He had half his arm in the man's stomach trying to find the artery and clamp it shut. All the while Franklin coughed up blood and finally breathed his last. Eugene stared at the man and slowly took his arm out of his stomach and threw the bloody bandage on the ground. "Il est mort. Il ne peut pas être, je l'ai eu dans ma poigne!" He muttered. He grabbed the man's dog tag and added it to the collection.

"Ten." He shook his head.

"Ready?" he looked at Shifty and grinned. "Let's let them see that God's is on our side." Saying that he began firing down on the now exposed Germans. "Keep it up, Shifty! We're killing them left and right!"

"Thirty five. Thirty six. Forty. Hey I got those four in a row. How you doing over there Jackson? What's the matter? Can't keep up?"

Eugene stood up and just stared at the dead man he'd been trying to save. Shells exploded all around him, bullets flew past his head. He froze.

Malarkey looked over at the Doc and shook his head "Doc! Doc Roe! Get down! They'll hose you down!" But Eugene stood fast, not listening.

"Two of those four were mine!" Jackson teased as he shot and counted. "Oh, I just got a General or whatever that is. It should at least count as five.'

Shifty glared at Jackson. "No, they weren't. Those were mine! Cheater." He glanced past the hedgegrove and saw more movement. "Oh dear Lord. Tigers! Where the hell did those come from? Jackson you see them?" He stuck his head out of the window "Tigers! Five of them! You've gotta move!"

Liebgott finally ran over and tackled Roe and splashed some cold water on his face. "Eugene!" He smacked his face. "Snap out of it! Get back with Captain Winters!" He shouted. Roe nodded his head and went back behind the lines.

Lewis heard the Tiger tanks and saw them. He also saw the troops that were following the tanks.  
"PULL BACK BEHIND THE BUILDINGS! DISPLACE!" he yelled out. Men in the open stood no chance against Tigers. When they got far enough back he looked at Nixon. "Set up your mortars along here," he pointed to a hedgerow. "This should give you some protection. Try to bust those tanks. Oh, no! There goes our left flank!" One of the Tigers fired on Dog Company. That's when he saw Doc.  
"DOC!" he yelled at him. "You trying to commit suicide out there? Get back here with us."

Jackson also looked and saw the barrel of the Tiger raising.  
"SHIFTY! DISPLACE!" he yelled grabbing his rifle and headed for the wooden stairs that led downward.

Shifty grabbed his rifle and started to run as fast as he could to get out of that building. One of the tanks aim for the church and fired sending a massive hole right through the middle. Shifty had to jump onto the ground and cover himself. "JACKSON?" He called out. "JACKSON?"

Roe stumbled back behind the lines. "Ten!" He shouted "We lost another one."

Jackson was sprawled on the ground covered in dust and pieces of shattered bricks. Blood dribbled down the side of his face. Dazed he sat up amid the rubble shaking his head.  
"Ah, crap ... what a way to make a living," he said spitting dust from his mouth as he came to his senses. "SHIFTY?" he called out groping around for his rifle.

Shifty lifted his head and looked around. Rubble was everywhere, including on him. He got up and brushed the dust and grime away. He heard Jackson call out for him "Jackson? You okay?" He shouted and ran towards where he heard the voice. "We need to get out of here, you're bleeding again."

Reaching for his helmet and rifle he reached out and grabbed Shifty. "I'm alright! Let's get outta here!" With arm around Shifty the two ran for the door though a smoky haze.

"OH! JESUS!" Lewis shouted when he saw the church blow up. "MY GOD! Shifty! Jackson! Those son-a-bitches," he growled looking at the Germans. "They got both of my snipers."

Roe saw two figures appear from the building "Captain Lewis, look! There they are. See 'em?"

Shifty stumbled a bit, his helmet falling off his head. He grabbed it and went running with Jackson back to their line.

Slamming his helmet on the ground out of sheer frustration Winters let out a string of curse words as he stomped around in anger when he heard Doc yell. Turning he saw the two men running out of the smoke towards them. They were covered in dust as they ran. "Doc, I do believe the God you and Jackson pray to has just saved those two."

Shifty ran back to the lines and landed next to Captain Lweis. He looked up at the man and smiled. "How ya'll doin' Captain? Miss us much?" He said in his thick Virginia drawl.

Jackson collapsed to his knees catching his breath, wiping blood out of his eye. "I thought we were gonna buy the farm, that time," he joked before putting his head in his hands moaning.

"I don't know whether to hug you or slug you," Lewis said to them both relieved they were still alive.

Roe went over to Jackson and looked at him carefully. "Jackson, you're bleeding again. Let me to take care of that wound for you."

"Yeah, Doc," he rubbed his head. "Got any aspirin? I got a splitting headache."

"No, sorry. I'm afraid not, Jackson. Though I do have a flask of whiskey if you'd like a drink." He started to rummage in his pack.

Liebgott heard the word whiskey and shot a glance over to them. "Whiskey? Doc you got Hooch? Pass it on down the line! Hey, hey fellas, Doc's been holding out on us."

Martin shook his head "Liebgott, shut your trap and keep your eyes on the line!"

Liebgott rolled his eyes. "Who died and made you boss?"

Martin glanced at his uniform and then back at the kid "Boss? I'm your fucking Sergeant. Now if you want to continue to undermine my authority I suggest you do it with a rifle in your hands. Now stay focused!"

"Yeah, that's be great," Jackson said. "Anything to help with this pain in my head. Ow! Doc, that hurt," he complained as Doc cleaned his wound on the side of his head.

"I'm telling you, Jackson, I don't know how to replace brains. So don't go getting your head blown up anymore. That goes for you too, Shifty."

Shifty chuckled, his Virginian accent becoming thick. "Oh Doc, you don't have to worry none about me. I can take care of myself. It's Jackson you might have to worry about. Oh, and Liebgott and Martin. Those two sound like they might kill each other. And then of course you've got Luz and Perconte, the lovers." The rest of the men laughed loudly.

They were getting hammered by the Germans when they heard a new sound. Tanks coming from the opposite direction. Nixon pulled out his binoculars to see what this new threat was. "Well, hello 2nd Armored," he declared happily. The sound was six Sherman tanks coming to their rescue blasting the Germans with cannon fire and machine guns.

"Pour it on 'em, boys! Let 'em have it! Martin, we might come out of this alive after all," Lewis chuckled as he raised his rifle and kept firing at the enemy.

Martin and Liebgott laughed started hollering, firing their rifles off at the same time. While Roe shook his head in disbelief. "Hey Wade, Gould, can you guys believe all of this?"

They were finally able to move closer as the German's were falling backwards. Wade checked on Shifty making sure he was alright. "I was beginning to wonder if I was going to see you again or not," Wade said teasingly to Doc.

"Good thing 'cause Baker Company was calling him Doc," Gould teased.

"We've obviously got too many people named Doc, then. We'll have to put a number or letter behind it just to make sure people know who they're talking about." He smirked and nudged Alan in his arm. "Hey Gould, shut yer trap," Doc chuckled, obviously in a good mood.

Gould laughed back glad to be able to relax a little. "How ya' doin', Jackson?"

Jackson nodded, "Better since Doc gave me a swig of his hooch."

Frank cheered as he watched the Shermans run down the enemy. "YEAH! TAKE THAT, YOU FILTHY HUN SWINE! Look at 'em runnin', Luz!" He was overjoyed.

With the Germans pushed back there came a calm as the battle moved away from them. Luz handed Winters the receiver. "Sir, Major Hornsby to speak with you, Sir."

Taking the receiver and spoke into it and listened. "Yes, Sir .. I understand, Sir. Yes, Sir." When he finished he handed it back to Luz and pulled out a map. "Sergeant Martin, inform your men we're to advance to Carentan along with the other companies. We'll hook up with regiment there."

Looking over the map he studied it. "Nix, we're here, outside Ste-Mere-Eglise. We'll take Carentan and then St-Lo. If all goes well we'll hook up with the Brits in Bayeux to take Caen. That's the plan, anyway. Doc, let me know when you've got the wounded situated then we'll leave right afterwards."

"Sir, the only major thing we have are those two dead men. Did you want me to go ahead and bury them?" He cleared his throat, feeling it parched it reached for his canteen with shaking hands and tried to get a drink, some of the water spilled all over him.

"No. Nix, have Bull pick a detachment and bury them. We're pulling out in 30 minutes. What's that?" A jeep pulled up loaded with ammuniton. "Martin, make sure your NCOs distribute what ammo the men need. Doc, you alright?"

"Alright men, take some ammo! We leave in 30 minutes. Get your stuff in order," Martin ordered.

Roe tried to calm his shaking hand, spilling some more water all over the place. He finally just put the cap back on it and sat down on the ground, closing his eyes. "I don't know. I can't stop shaking."

"Got any more of that hooch you gave Jackson?" he patted the man on his shoulder.

He looked up at Lewis. "Afraid I'm not much of a drinker Captain Lewis. Besides that's for the guys in case I do run out of morphine. Highly doubt I would with Gould and Wade running around." He quickly changed the subject as best as he could "How's the foot?"

"I forgot about it. It doesn't bother me any more. I'm more concerned about you, Doc. I wanted to put you over the other Medics. They're to get their orders from you. But can you handle it, Doc?"

"You want to put me in charge? You ... you serious?" His eyes went wide as he searched around in his pack for something to eat, pulling out a chocolate bar. "I can handle it. I'm fine, I think. I just need a bite to eat." He unwrapped the chocolate bar and snapped a piece from it "Want some Captain?"

"Sounds good," he took a piece of the chocolate and took a bite. "I've seen how the other two act around you. They already look to you as a leader so it's only natural you'd be over them."

"Do they know about this?" He questioned. "I mean I'm sure they'd be thrilled..." He trailed off. "Sorry, I'm thinking too much into things, aren't I? I'd be glad to accept anything." He took a piece of chocolate and ate it.

"Not yet," he looked over at Gould and Wade as they were checking their supplies. "You do realize that you'll be responsible for everything that happens with the Medics. If they screw up, you screw up"

"They won't screw up. I've got every confidence in them. You don't need to worry Captain Lewis, I'll take care of things. I'll keep those two in line. We'll work together and get things done."

"Well, I'm trusting you, Sergeant," he grinned and waited for his reaction.

"Of course, sir," he answered, then it hit him. A promotion? Was he really getting a promotion? Could he? His jaw dropped and a grin grew across his face "Sergeant?" He muttered. "You think it's wise?" He laughed.

"I put in for a promotion before we left Upottery. Major Hornsby just confirmed that you got it."

"Excuse me, Sir," the young soldier that had been driving the jeep came up to him. "This for you, sir," he handed him a manila envelope. Lewis took and looked at the front.

"WADE! GOULD! FRONT AND CENTER!" he called over to them.

Both Medics came over at once. "Yes, Sir," they looked curiously at both the Captain and Doc.

"I want you to be the first to meet Sergeant Eugene Roe," he handed him his stripes.

Wade and Gould looked at each other and then at Doc.

"Congratulations," Wade said.

"I guess that means we report to you, Sergeant Roe," Gould grinned.

Eugene felt like his entire face was red with embarrassment. He stood at attention as the two medics were facing him. The next thing he knew the entire company faced him and stared in awe, clapping their hands and cheering.

"Congratulations, Doc," he reached out and shook his hand. "You deserve it."

"Thank you, sir." He was grinning from ear to ear but wasn't quite sure he deserved it. But he stopped questioning it in his mind. He had a job to do, even more people to be responsible for.


	4. Chapter 4

Band of Brothers:Brothers in Arms

Chapter 4

The soldiers were buried, their graves marked with an empty rifle topped with their helmets, and the extra ammo was distributed among the men. Having enough time to eat a small amount and drink from their canteens the men relaxed as they waited.

Wade and Gould both sat with Doc rechecking their supplies and talking.  
"I've got a needle and thread if you want to sew that on, Doc," Wade asked referring to his stripe. "It'll only be a patched until you can get it sewn on better."

"I think I'll wait, but thank you. Hey guys, I've got about six more aide kits. Two for all of us. Keep them with you. How y'all fixed for supplies?" he asked them. They might just need all of it especially after the fight they had encountered.

"I'm fine," Gould said. "But I'll take the extra kits. Thanks."

"Yeah, me too," Wade also said as he took the extra kits from Doc and put them in his bag.

Gould opened his canteen and took a long drink of water. "What I'd give for a long drink of cold lemonade right now," he said as he wiped his brow with his sleeve.

"Good. Y'all go ahead and relax a moment, I'm gonna run down the line to see how everybody is," and with that Roe took off running. "Martin? Liebgott? How's things going down here?" Doc asked them.

Shrugging their shoulders and they gave him a thumbs up while watching the lines. Roe made his way to Malarkey and Muck. "How y'all doing?" he questioned.

"Oh, well you know how it is, Doc. We're just sitting here trying to put together a baseball team," teased Malarkey.

"Yeah, Doc. What position you wanna play?" laughed Muck.

"Right now, I just want to not get blown up by Kraut shells," he muttered and continued down the line.

"Hey Perconte, Luz, Shifty, Jackson. How y'all doing?" he asked once more.

Frank had a mouth full of cracker. "I'm ffffffine," he said as crackers flew out of his mouth.

"We're good Doc," Luz smirked and smacked Perconte on his back. "Hey Perco, if you keep eating like that the Germans might think you're one of them," he laughed.

Frank gave him a dirty look as he defiantly stuffed another cracker in his mouth and chewed.

"You look like a tiny rat when you do that, Frank," he chuckled. "Hey, guys look at this. Check out Perconte." Some of the guys turned their heads and laughed.

Frank shook his head as Luz also laughed. "Lug head," he told him as he chewed on another cracker. "When are we gonna get started? I'm getting tired of just sitting here," he asked Doc.

"Just a matter of time, Perconte. Don't you worry about it. Hey, enjoy the rest for a bit, oh ... and your crackers," he smirked and went back to where Captain Lewis the other medics were.

"Things are all checked, the boys are good to go. Perconte wants to march some more I think. I say let him," he chuckled.

Lewis looked at his watch. "He's about to get his wish fulfilled," he said to Doc. "Let's get this show on the road. Nix, Martin, Shifty, Welsh! He called out to his NCOs, "let's move out."

"GRAB YOUR GEAR AND MOVE OUT!" Martin rang out.

"LET'S GO!" Welsh also called out to his men.

"Sergeant Roe, place your men and let's go," Lewis grinned at Doc.

He nodded his head. "Gould! Wade! Get your gear gentlemen, we're moving out." He looked over at Perconte. "Hey, Perconte, looks like you just got your wish of moving out" he smirked and lit a cigarette.

"About time," Perconte said getting up and pulling on his pack. "Luz, come'on! Let's go!" he said to George as he picked up his rifle.

Luz rolled his eyes and shook his head sighing.

"Where do you want us, Doc?" Gould asked him.

"Spread out gentlemen. One in the rear, one in the front and one in the middle, just in case. And you two, don't go and get yourselves taken out of this, yeah?" he suggested.

Liebgott looked over. "Jesus Christ, Doc, worry much?"

"Of course, I have to know, Liebgott, besides who will save you if you get shot in the behind?"

Gould chuckled at Doc's remark. "Liebgott, my ass is in your hands. Wade, I'll take the rear."

Now it was Wade's turn to chuckled. "Oh, God help us all." The two Medics walked away laughing.

Liebgott laughed. "Oh, that's a good thing to know. Great now I have something else to look after."

Roe smirked, "I'll take front, you guys, just in case. Can never be too cautious."

* * *

They marched around areas that the Germans had flooded. Mosquitoes were everywhere making their lives miserable. The day was drawing to a close as the sun set with a brilliant orange haze on the horizon. Along the way there were burning wrecked tanks and dead German soldiers. The men either stepped around or over them. Lewis came across Nixon standing staring ahead. "What's wrong, Nix?" he asked.

"We lost Dog Company," he sighed.

Shaking his head he turned around. "Liebgott, you and Blithe go ahead and see if you can catch up to them," the rest of the men the signal to stop and wait. Each of them got down on one knee.

Frank pulled the watch off of a dead German's wrist and stuck it to his ear. "Luz it's still ticking." He got down on one knee like the rest of the men. "What are we waiting for?" he asked.

"We lost Dog Company," Sisk told him.

"Again? Hey, Luz, we lost Dog Company again."

Eugene stood fast and crouched on the ground. "We lost them again? How many times does that make it now? Four? Five?" he shook his head and took a drink out of his canteen.

Liebgott nodded his head. "Come on, Blithe, let's try to find these yokels." They both went marching into the dense woods.

Frank put on the watch along with the five others he already had on his arm and looked them over."Sinn, Sothis, Stowa, Nivrel ...," he read the brand names out loud.

Captain Lewis turned to look at him. "Frank, what the hell are you talking about?"

But before he got an answer he went down with a shutter. It was then they heard the sound of a rifle firing.

"GET DOWN! SNIPER!" someone yelled and the men did just that.

"CAPTAIN LEWIS! JOHN!" Nixon called over to him hearing Lewis moan. "MEDIC!"

Lewis was shot in the back, unable to move. The sniper had aimed for his head but when he turned to talk to Perconte it struck him in the spine instead, paralyzing him.

"TELL JACKSON AND SHIFTY TO GET UP HERE NOW!" Nixon called to the men. "DOC!"

Jackson scurried up to Nixon trying to keep a low profile. "Yes sir," he said looking in the direction of the woods where Liebgott and Blithe were heading.

"Lieutenant Nixon, Sir!" It was Luz. "Colonel Sink to speak with Captain Lewis, sir." Taking the receiver Nixon spoke into it telling him about Captain Lewis's injury and about the snipers.

"Regroup and pull back to the village, Lieutenant Nixon," Sink barked over the receiver. "Try to get Captain Lewis to Carentan. We've got a hospital set up there."

"Yes, sir," he handed the receiver back to Luz. "Liebgott! Blithe! Get back here! NOW!" he looked at Jackson. "Where's Doc?"

Roe heard the call for medic and ran forward. He cradled Lewis in his arms and looked closely at him. "He's been hit in the spine, exit wound." He grabbed a bandage and applied it to stop the bleeding. "Captain Lewis? Hey, I got you. It'll be alright, it's nothing you hear?"

Lewis nodded, unable to move.

Liebgott and Blithe came running back to the lines and looked at their Captain bleeding on the ground.

Shifty ran forward with Jackson, looking for the sniper. He saw a glitter in the hedgerow about 100 yards from them. "I see him," Shifty looked through his scope and put a shot clean through the sniper's head. "See anything else Jackson?"

Jackson studied the area. "I can't see anything but that doesn't mean there's nothing there."

"We need to pull back to the village. Some of you help Doc with the Captain," Nixon ordered. "Whenever you're ready, Doc."

"Doc," Lewis said weakly looking up at him. "I can't move. Get me outta here."

"I'll help," Frank volunteered and moved over by Doc. Looking down at his paralyzed Captain a tear ran down his cheek. "You're gonna be alright, Captain. We'll take care of ya'."

"It's nothing Captain, it's nothing. I'll get you fixed up. I promise," Roe told him.

Back at the village Doc helped get the man in a jeep and leaned over him trying to get the wound to stop bleeding. "I've got to get him out of here, Lieutenant Nixon. He can't stay here. He's losing too much blood." He wiped a bloody hand on his trousers and grabbed another bandage and some more sulfa.

A jeep was called in and Lewis was loaded onto it."We've gotta go now! We can't stay here! Go, go!" Roe shouted at the driver. The driver got into the jeep and they sped off towards the town.

Roe kept looking at Lewis's breathing pattern and kept checking his vitals. His breathing seemed to be getting even more shallow than he would have liked it to be.

"Captain Lewis? Listen to my voice, alright? Hold on, we're almost to the town. It's nothing. It's just a small scrape. You can handle it." he kept patting his face. "Keep your eyes open, Captain, come on stay with me. That's right, stay with me. It ain't that bad. It ain't that bad."

Lewis was having trouble focusing on Doc's face. "I can't ... I can't feel my legs, Doc ... Doc?" The world was getting dark but someone kept patting his face bringing him back around. "Doc? Is that you?"

The company returned to the village feeling deflated. "Lieutenant Nixon, Colonel Sink on the horn for you, Sir," Luz said holding out the receiver to his radio.

"Yes, sir," he said into it. This was the first time he wanted to walk away from the war, just quit.

"Lieutenant Nixon, damn shame about Captain Lewis. I hope he's not hurt too badly but I do have some good news. I am sending Captain Winters to replace him. Stay where you are for now and he should get to you sometime tomorrow.

"Thank you, Colonel. Please keep us informed of Captain Lewis's condition, Sir."

Handing back the receiver back to Luz he waved over Martin, Guarnere and Liebgott. "Pass the word that we will be spending the night here. Captain Winters will be coming tomorrow to replace Lewis."

* * *

"Come on, Captain Lewis!" Roe kept praying to himself that this man would get better. Eugene helped him get carried into a church currently being used a hospital in Carentan.

"Get him in here. Set him down, fetch me some fresh bandages and some plasma." Some men just stared at him unsure of what to do. Doc's face grew red. "Do it!" he barked. He kept trying to keep Lewis awake. "Captain? You've gotta stay awake for me, alright? Talk to me, Captain." Finally some plasma was handed to him and he set up an IV. It wouldn't be easy but Eugene always liked a challenge, but right now he had a hard time keeping the man awake. "Sergeant !" he shouted at a soldier.

He came running over. "Yeah, Doc? What do you need?"

"I need somebody to keep him awake. Can't have him dying on us. Just keep patting his face and help me drain some of this blood from his wound. I can't see a thing."

The Sergeant nodded his head. "Sure thing, Doc, anything to help." He sat his rifle down and grabbed the fresh bandages, ready to help when needed.

Lewis kept coming in and out of consciousness. First he'd see Doc's face and then another soldier. For some reason they kept slapping him in the face and yelling his name but he could not respond.

"Doc, he keeps going in and out," the Sergeant told him.

Eugene sighed. "Try to keep him awake, Sergeant." He kept swabbing the blood away from the wound, but it didn't help. "You've gotta be kidding me!" he shouted, and cursed some more in French. "I can't see a damn thing."

At that time another medic came up behind him. "I'll take care of him for ya." He looked at Lewis and then back at Eugene. "What's wrong with him? Why doesn't he have a tag?"

"Paralyzed." muttered Eugene.

"He's what?" asked the other medic.

"He's paralyzed, can't feel a thing." With that Eugene walked out of the church with Lipton coming up behind him.

"Doc? Hey Doc, look you did everything you could for him..."

"But it wasn't enough, Sergeant, not enough for him." Eugene hung his head and closed his eyes.

The Medic worked on Lewis getting the bleeding stopped. A surgeon took him into a makeshift O.R. and did what he could to help him.

Thirty minutes later he came out asking who had brought him in. He was pointed outside to where Doc and the Sergeant were talking."Which one is the Medic that brought Captain Lewis in?" he asked looking back and forth between them.

Eugene got up from the rubble he'd been sitting on. "I am. What's going on? Don't tell me he's...Jesus Christ I can't even say it." He grabbed a cigarette and lit it trying to calm his nerves.

"No, he's not dead, but he should be. You save his life, young man," he nodded to Doc. "Unfortunately he'll never walk again, but he will live. We'll be shipping him back to England tomorrow. Well done, Corporal."

Eugene sighed loudly, taking his helmet off and dropping it on the ground, ruffling his hair a bit. He couldn't believe it, the man wasn't dead. A thousand things were running through his mind and clearly Lewis should be dead, but isn't. Maybe Roe was just like his Grandmother afterall. He was now officially a healer.

"Can I go see him? If it isn't too much to ask? Is he talking?"

"He's still under sedation but you can see him if you'd like. Danielle, take these gentlemen to see Captain Lewis in the O.R. ward."

"Yes, Doctor Howard. This way, please."

Eugene followed the nurse after picking up his helmet. When they got to Lewis's bed all Roe could do is stare at the man. He had no emotions whatsoever. He sat down next to the bed and waited for him to wake up. A half hour went by and Eugene fell asleep, his arms across his chest.

Lewis's eyes opened and he looked around uncertain of his whereabouts. He heard a soft snore and looked over to see Doc sleeping in a chair. When he tried to turn over he couldn't move. "What's wrong with me? WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?" he started yelling.

Eugene was startled by the yelling and jumped up. "Captain Lewis. Calm down, you're alright. There was...well you got hit. Sniper. Shifty took care of it. Your fine though, gave us a right bit of a scare." He grabbed the man by his shoulders and tried to calm him down.

Lewis blinked a few times uncertain but then the memory began to creep back into his mind and he looked at Doc.  
"Am ... am I ... ," he looked at him and swallowed hard. "Doc, am I paralyzed?"

Eugene sighed heavily and sat back down. "I'm afraid so, Captain Lewis. At least you ain't dead. I thought you were, the guys were worried, still are. They want you to get better is all."

Looking up at the ceiling he gave a sigh and nodded slightly. "Thanks, Doc. You're a good man." He was quiet for a moment. "You better get back, the men need you."

"Lieutenant Nixon said I could stay here as long as you wanted me to. Just curious if you have anything you want me to tell the men? I'm not leaving this bedside, my old feet could use a bit of rest. Besides I have a feeling that rest will be hard to come by here in the next few weeks," he smiled.

"You are right about that, Sergeant. We are on the verge of pushing into the heart of enemy territory. Or rather you are. I'll be going home soon." He continued to stare upwards. "I hope whoever replaces me will be good to my men," he looked over at him. "We've been through a lot haven't we, Doc? Just tell them that I'm fine and I'll be praying for them."

"Captain Winters is supposed to be taking your spot. I've heard nothing but good news about him. Hopefully he'll live up to our expectations." Eugene shook his head. "We have … I...well...it won't be the same without you, Captain."

Lewis nodded his approval. "He's one of the best, known him a long time."

"And he's recently been promoted to Captain," the doctor interrupted. "AND he's here to see you, Captain Lewis."

Behind the doctor was a tall, slender man with broad shoulders in his dress uniform. Across his face was a wide friendly smile.

"John!" Winters greeted. "How are you doing?"

"Dick! Come sit by me," Lewis returned the smile although weakly. "This is Sergeant Roe, my head Medic," he introduced.

"Sergeant Roe," Winters nodded, shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you." He liked the look of this young man already. "Is that a French name?"

Roe stood up and saluted then shook his hand impressed with the firm hand shake. "Yes sir, half Cajun, thanks to my Mother and Grandmother," he answered before adjusting his gear. He never took it off the entire time he was in the hospital. He looked at the two old friends and gave a small smile.

"Captain Lewis, Captain Winters, if you two don't mind I think I'm gonna head back to the lines. I'm sure Lieutenant Nixon needs a few helping hands, and maybe I can see if I can't get any more supplies," he rubbed his tired eyes. He hadn't gotten any decent sleep since before they jumped.

"Hold on, Sergeant," Winters said still standing. "I'll be heading that way tomorrow. You can go with me in the morning. In the meantime, get yourself a hot meal and some rest. You're welcome to stay at my quarters tonight. It's just a tent but it's comfy."

"I couldn't possibly intrude, Captain Winter. But a nice night of sleep sounds very tempting. But if you insist, I have a feeling sleep will be hard to come by," he gave a small smile. "Well, I'll let you two have some time to catch up."

"I am not inviting you, Sergeant. I am ordering you," he squared his shoulders and looked at him but then his expression softened. "It won't do me any good to have a sick medic on my hands. Give me a few moments alone with Captain Lewis and then we'll get something to eat and get some rest. Tomorrow you'll ride with me."

"You heard him, Doc," Lewis spoke softly. "He's your C.O. now." He looked at Roe and gave him a weak grin. "Thanks, Doc, for saving my life. But thanks more for being my friend."

Eugene hung his head briefly and nodded his head. "And you, Captain Lewis, do me a favor and just get better alright? I expect letters from you to make sure everything is alright." He toyed around with an aide kit. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. It's the guys I'm worried about," he shook his hand. "It was an honor sir, a true honor." He saluted him and left the two men alone.

"Take care of my boys, Dick. You're getting a good bunch of men. They're loyal. A good bunch of men," he said to him.

Winters sat down on a chair beside him. "Many of the men I knew from Taccoa. Nixon, Guarnere, Perconte, Shifty Powers, Buck, Bull, many others. I know them to be good men."

The two friends chatted for a bit about personal things, family, Army food, anything that came to mind.

"Excuse me," the nurse came in with stretcher bearers. "These men are here to get Captain Lewis," she smiled at them both.

"Where am I going?" he asked her.

"You're being shipped to a hospital in London and then after that you're going home," she told him. "I'm sorry, Captain Winters, you'll have to leave now."

"The best of luck to you, John," Winters told him. "And don't worry, I'll take good care of Easy," he reassured him. He left the room and tried to find the way out of the church.

* * *

Eugene stood outside the main door of the church with a box of supplies in his hands. He was going through it so he could distribute it among the other two medics. He had a cigarette in his mouth.

After wandering around and getting directions Winters finally found the way out of the hospital/church where he saw Roe sifting through a box of medical supplies. "Sergeant Roe, there you are. I do believe they are getting ready to serve dinner. Afterwards you can shower and get a clean uniform. How does that sound, soldier?"

Roe nodded his head. A nice warm showers and warm food sounded excellent. "Sounds refreshing ,Captain Winters." He looked at the man then and studied him for a moment. "Sir? Did you say Camp Taccoa? I was there with Captain Sobel. Currahee. I think you may have even been my platoon leader once."

"I was, until Sobel got in the works and nearly got me court martialed, more than once. Come along, we'll talk over a hot meal. And I do remember you, Doc," he patted his shoulder.

"What's going to happen to Captain Lewis/" he asked as they walked.

"Captain Lewis is going home," winters replied.

* * *

A large tent had been erected and a chow line set up. They just happened to be serving Winters' favorite meal; roast beef, mashed potatoes with brown gravy; all of it military style. Theyfound a place to sit at a metal table and chairs the color of their uniforms, OD green.

Afterwards he took Doc to where a shower tent was set up and showed him where to get a clean uniform and told him he'd wait outside for him.

Eugene had shoveled down his meal. It had been over a day since he'd last eaten so that and some fresh cold water was a God send. Afterwards he showered. The water was warm and the soap smelled better than anything he'd ever smelled before. He put on a new uniform with his new rank sewn on the sleeves, which seemed absurd to him since it would be getting dirty and bloody again, but he didn't mind. Finally he walked out of the tent and adjusted some of his gear.

Winters chuckled when he saw Doc in his clean uniform and with a full belly. "How are you feeling?" he asked him as they walked towards his tent.

"Full. Stiff. And just a nice feeling. Not exhausted like I was before. Thanks Captain Winters." As they walked along Eugene kept toying around with his uniform. It was odd seeing Sergeant stripes on, but he could care less about the rank, he was just happy saving lives.

"Good, we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Let's get some rest so we can meet it head on. Here's my tent," he opened the flap for him. "I had a private bring in another cot for you. It's very humble but it's home, at least for now."

"Thank you, sir." He nodded his head and sat down on the cot. He wasn't really tired but he knew as soon as his head hit that pillow he would be out cold.

* * *

Meanwhile back on the lines Shifty was cleaning his rifle and humming a tune to himself.

Liebgott looked over. "So Shifty, what's it like being a sniper?"

"Why don't you run out about 100 yards and find out?" joked Shifty.

Liebgott's facial expression changed suddenly. "What? You can't be serious. You wouldn't shoot me would you?"

Shifty smirked, "I can always do with a bit of target practice. I'm sure Jackson could, too."

"Jesus Christ, Shifty, you scare the hell out of me sometimes," replied Liebgott, his eyes wide.

"Who says I'm joking, Liebgott?" The guys started laughing.

Jackson sat relaxing against a tree as he puffed a cigarette and looked at a picture of his twin brother. He was also dressed in ODs but there were Marine emblems on his shoulders and camouflage on the helmet. Looking up at the moon, he wondered if David was alright.

At the same time on Guadalcanal David Jackson looked at a picture of his brother, Daniel. Looking up at the moon he wondered if Daniel was alright.

Wade counted his morphine syringes and looked over at Gould who was laying on his back counting stars.

"You better check you supplies, Stephen," he said to him as he put away the syringes and began counting his bandages.

"I've already done that, twice. LOOK!" he pointed. "A shooting star. Something good is going to happen."

"Yeah, I see it," Wade looked up. "How many packets of sulfa do you have?"

"Thirty, why?"

"I've only got ten. Give me some of yours."

Gould sat up sighing and checked his bag pulling out ten packets. "That should give you 20 and leave me with 20. I hope Doc brings back some more supplies."

"He will. He always looks out for us," he answered.

"Yeah, he does," Gould said as he laid back down. "Look, there's Orion's belt."

Frank was looking at a girly magazine he had hidden in his pack. Page after page of topless, naked women were there to behold. With a small flashlight he scanned each page, making small sounds like he was hurt. "Oh, Mama," he drooled at a busty blonde who smiled back at him.

Luz snuck up behind Perconte and sat down next to him. "Hey there, Frank!" He smirked "What you looking at?" He looked over and his eyes widened. "Jesus Christ, Frank! Let me see!"

"Ain't she bee-u-tee-ful," he said with a slight lustiness to his voice. "If she was here right now I know what I'd be doing. Hey!" he protested when Luz snatched it out of his hands. "Candy is my girl. You'll have to pick one of the others."

Deacon pulled guard duty along with several others. Except for the barking of a few dogs and the thundering sound of distant shelling all was quiet.

It was a beautiful clear night and the stars twinkled brightly in the sky and he wondered if his folks were looking at the same stars. His brother, Jimmy and him would sometimes sit out at night and try to name all the constellations. Now he couldn't think of the names of any of them. He would stand guard for two hours until his relief would show up and then he'd get some rest.

Liebgott, Martin, Malarkey and Lipton all fell asleep in a circle each of them with their rifles next to them or still in their hands.

Shifty was perched up against a tree. His head was hung low and his rifle was held tight in his hands.

"So, how did you sleep, Doc?" Winters asked him over his coffee. They were sitting over a tray of powdered eggs, and fried potatoes in the mess tent. The Army seemed to live on potatoes.

"Slept like a newborn babe, Captain Winters. I could get use to being pampered like that. You've got it made," he smirked and sipped on his morning coffee.

Winters also smirked. "Oh, yeah ... made in the shade."

"Excuse me, Captain Winters," a private interrupted. "I'm here to take you to your post, Sir. Whenever you're ready, Sir."

"Thank you, Private. Well, there's no time like the present, heh Doc? Let's go fight a war."

Roe nodded as he finished his coffee. "Ready, Captain Winters." He also picked up the box of supplies he had managed to rummage up the day before. "Let's go see the boys. Hope they haven't killed each other."

The ride was uneventful as they drove past soldiers that walked the roads. During the week that the Americans had been in France they had managed to get a strong foothold on several of the small towns and villages that surrounded Normandy including Ste-Mere-Eglise, Cherbourg and Valognes, but it had been paid with a terrible price. Still there was much to do.

"Captain Lewis told me that our next objective is to take Carentan," Winters was telling Doc. "And then hopefully meet up with Montgomery at St. Lo for a push on Caen. Personally, I think Monty is over rated. Between him and Patton I don't know who's the more pompous. But you didn't hear that from me," he snickered.

"Carentan?" Doc questioned and then smirked hearing Winters joke about Patton and Montgomery. "No, of couse not sir, not a word. Though, I completely agree about Patton." Eugene liked Winters. He seemed so down-to-earth and yet a confident leader. Something that him and the men could use in battle, a great leader.

Winters liked Doc the first time he met him and he was getting to like him more as time went on. He had a certain kind of charm about him that the ones from the North seemed to lack. "I knew a man who was Cajun and you sound a lot like him," Winters commented.

"I am Cajun, Captain Winters. You can blame my grandmother. She wanted to send me away to some relatives in Maryland but I protested since she was ill," he gave a small smile as he changed the subject. "The men will sure be glad to see you again."

* * *

Frank Perconte was wiping his weapon off after cleaning it when he heard a jeep drive up and saw its passengers unload.

"Well, I'll be ... HEY! ... LUZ!" he shouted over to him. "Doesn't that look like Lieutenant Winters to you?" he narrowed his eyes studying him. "Make that Captain Winters."

Luz nodded his head. "Sure does, Frank, and look who's with him. Doc Roe. It's been ages since we've seen Winters. Good old Currahee days. Glad to know he's our C.O. now."

Winters picked up his pack and rifle and looked at the two men looking in his direction.

"Luz and Perconte ... I'd recognize those two anywhere," he chuckled looking at Doc as they walked towards the two soldiers.

"Captain Winters, Sir. It's really good to see you again," Frank spoke smiling and shook his hand.

"Good morning, Sgt. Perconte ... Sgt. Luz," he shook both of their hands. "Good to see you two again. Are you two alright?"

"Doin' fine Captain Winters," Perconte spoke, shaking the man's hand. "Great to see you again."

Luz smirked. "We're fine, Captain Winters, thanks for asking. Haven't kill him yet," he laughed nodding toward Frank.

"DICK!" Nixon smiled walking up to him. "Never thought you'd get here. Colonel Sink wanted me to call him when you got here," Nixon patted his shoulder.

While Winters and Nixon talked Eugene walked over to where Wade and Gould were.

Wade was pulling a splinter out of a soldier's finger with a pair of tweezers.

"Hold still, Reilly. If you hadn't used that board as a baseball bat this would ave never happened. If you don't stop jerking I'll leave the splinter in and let it fester till you beg me to cut off your finger. Now then, ... hold still ... Reilly, you're acting like a little girl, now hold still ...there it is," he pulled the splinter out. "All that fuss over a tiny splinter." He held it up so Reilly could see it and, after cleaning the area, sent him away. "Stop picking up pieces of the church tower before you get another splinter," he warned him.

"Hey guys, ya'll miss me?" He put the box of medical supplies down onto the ground. "Y'all take some of these supplies."

"Good to see you, Doc," Wade greeted.

"Hey, Doc," Gould also greeted. "Thanks, we could use the supplies."

"Whose the officer with you?" Wade asked him as he stood up.

Eugene patted Reilly on the back "Listen to him, he's a good doctor. Hey, take it easy Reilly." He sat down on the ground next to the other two medics. "That is Captain Winters, our new C.O. He went to Toccoa, Went through the same hell we did with Sobel and ran Currahee with us. I think he got sick and had to be taken out of commission for a bit but no matter he's with us now. Hey, Captain Lewis said to tell you that he's thinking of everybody in Easy. He tells us to be safe and keep in touch with him. He's gonna live."

"That's good," Gould said as he looked through the box. "Oh, good, you've got some more sulfa. We were starting to run short."

"Well, then that means he's going home then. Good for him," Wade nodded his approval. "You said you know Captain Winters? If you like him that's good enough for me."

"Yeah, I stopped by the hospital in town. That's where I met up with Captain Winters. A nice tent, a cot, warm shower and warm food. Too bad y'all couldn't have come," he teased. "But he's a good man. Winters, that is. Most of the guys in this company already know him from boot camp." He took a drink from his canteen. "I'm just glad that Lewis is gonna be alright. He's a good man."

"A tent and a cot?" Wade looked at him.

"A hot shower?" Gould said.

"Warm food?" they said together.

"You lucky dog, you," Wade shook his head.

"I wanted to come back to y'all believe me, but Captain Winters insisted. Actually her ordered me. I wasn't complaining. But all in all I'm just glad to be back. Anybody hurt last night?" he questioned.

"No, nothing happened. Well, nothing major anyway," Wade said.

"Just the usual ... a couple of blisters and a splinter. Otherwise nothing."

"We pretty much had an uneventful night," Wade told him.

"Well, at least you guys got a good nights worth of sleep. I know I did," he smirked. "Wonder when we'll be heading out?"

Shifty and Jackson came around and sat with the group. "Doc. Gould. Wade. How y'all doing?" they asked.

Eugene smiled, "Had a great night. Managed to hunt down the new Easy Company C.O. Well, rather he found me."

"No kidding, Doc? I don't think I've seen Winters in ages," muttered Shifty.

"Some of the guys seem glad to see him," Jackson said kneeling next to Shifty. "I hope he is as good as Lewis was. I liked him."

"Back at basic they had me running from different companies in the 506th and I ran into him in Dog company. Spent a month under his command. He's a good leader. Not one to run away," Eugene commented as he lit up a cigarette.

"That's good," Jackson replied also lighting up a cigarette.

* * *

Winters was talking with Colonel Sink over a radio.

"Yes, Sir ... Yes, Sir ... We won't let you down, Sir ... Yes, Sir ... thank you, Sir." He handed the receiver back and pulled the map Lewis had given him, spreading it out on an old half burned table under a tree. "Change of plans, Nix," he said.

"Uh-Oh! Why don't I like the sound of that?" Nixon muttered.

Winters chuckled a his comment. "We're still going to Carentan. There's reports of enemy activity there. But instead of going on to St-Lo we're to hold the town until Able, Dog and Fox Companies meet up with us. Seems they're off fighting in Isigny. He seems to think Easy can take Carentan by itself. I think he thinks we're invincible. Maybe we are. Anyway that's where we're going."

"Let me get this straight - he sends three companies to take a town but thinks we can take one by ourselves? He's either got a lot of faith in us or he's crazy."

"Or both. Either way we're taking Carentan by ourselves. Nix," he folded up the map and stiffed it into his jacket, "call a school circle."

"Yes, Sir," he walked into the open. "EASY! SCHOOL CIRCLE!" he yelled to them.

"That gives me plenty of bandages, a fair share of morphine and more than enough of sulfa," Gould said looking through his medic bag

"I love the way you count," Wade chuckled.

Their heads turned when they heard Nixon call out. "Now what?"

Eugene got up and got in the circle with the rest of the guys. Next to him Liebgott, Malarkey, Shifty, Martin and Lipton all stood getting their gear situated so they could go ahead and head out.

"What's going on?" asked Liebgott.

When Easy was gathered Nixon started. "Listen up, Easy. First, I've heard that Captain Lewis survived and is at this very moment heading back to England and eventually home."

The crowd of men gave a sound of approval.

"He's going home?" Frank smiled. "Hey, Luz, did you hear that? The Captain has gone home."

"I heard him, Perco. I'm not deaf," Luz rolled his eyes.

Deacon felt a little numb. He and Lewis had been such good friends and the two had been through a lot together. He said nothing, just sighed and slowly shook his head. Now who could he confide in when the world seemed to press in around him. It was good he was kneeling down otherwise he would have fallen over.

"Our new C.O. many of you remember but for those who don't, the man who's boots you will lick from now on is Captain Winters and he has something to tell you. Capt'n." There was no cheering to draw attention but the ones who knew Winters were cheering in their hearts.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Good morning, Easy. We have a new objective. We will continue on and take Carentan. But then we will occupy it until Able, Dog and Fox are able to join us. Be alert as there has been enemy activity in the town. How much we're not sure. All I can tell you is once we dig in we will not leave until ordered to leave. Make sure you have plenty of ammo. So, let's gear up and go." As they began to disperse he called Roe over. "Doc, how are your men fixed for supplies?"

"We've got enough supplies, Captain Winters. I think we'll be fine," he nodded his head and finished off his cigarette.

"Thanks, Doc. Get your men into position. The sooner we get there the sooner we can get this done," he patted him on the shoulder and went to get his gear.

"Yes, sir," he turned around. "Wade. Gould. Get your gear situated, we're heading out. I want one in the rear, and one in the middle. I'll take front. Keep your eyes peeled and just yell if you need anything."

"Yes, Sir," they answered together and went to get their gear.

"I'll take the rear again," Wade said.

"I bet you say that to all the girls," Gould joked and they both laughed. "That's fine. Wherever you feel most comfortable."

"That's what you'd wish the girls would say to you," Wade chuckled and they laughed again.

"That other town must be bigger," Perconte said to Jackson and Luz as he put on his gear.

"Why do you say that, Perco?" Jackson asked him as he, too, pulled on his gear.

"Well, three companies are sent to take it and we're sent by ourselves to take Carentan. I'm guessing it'll be really small. They wouldn't send us alone to take a bigger town, would they? Would they, Luz?"

"Sink thinks we can do anything," Deacon mumbled angrily as he walked past Perconte. "If he wanted to take hell he'd send us. Wouldn't matter how many guys we loose."

Jackson watched Deacon walk past and scoffed. "That guys ass hairs are wound too tight."

Eugene looked at Deacon and pulled him to the side. "What's going on? You're never like this, and don't tell me that everything is fine because I know it ain't. Now come on, tell me." He had a stern look in his eyes and his arms were crossed.

"Everything is peachy keen," Deacon said sarcastically as he looked at him. "Don't worry about it, Doc. Let's go kill some Krauts." He wasn't ready to talk to anyone. He wasn't even sure of his own feelings. All he knew was that his best friend was gone and he felt very alone, even in an entire company of soldiers he felt alone.

"Bull," cursed Roe. "Don't make me send you behind the lines to the hospital. I do outrank you. Even though you might be the same rank as me, medics come first. But if you don't want to talk about it don't go and get yourself killed or end up like Guarnerre. Alright? I'm here if you need anything." With that he caught up with Captain Winters and walked alongside him.

Winters was walking beside his friend, Nixon, leading the way.  
"Hello, Doc," he looked at him noticing his creased forehead. "Is everything alright"

"Nathan Greer, I think he misses Captain Lewis. I understand where he's coming from but he needs to push it aside and not let it get in the way of our mission. I don't want him to end up like Guarnerre did when we first landed in Normandy," he sighed. "Guess I can't please everybody, can I Captain?"

Winters chuckled and put his hand on his shoulder. "That's one thing none of us can do, Doc. Captain Lewis was concerned about - I believe he called him Deacon. He said he was troubled because of personal problems and Lewis took him under his wing sort of as a father figure. Unfortunately we won't have time for that now. He'll have to buck it up and go on. Same as the rest of us. We have a war to win, we don't have time for fuzzy warm feelings. Unless he gets real crazy don't let it bother you for now."

Eugene sighed. "Thanks Captain." He fiddled around with a bandage for a moment unable to think of anything else to say. Winters was right though, they had a job to do. Hopefully the war would end soon and they could all get back home.

Before long they were on the edge of Carentan. A hill separated them from the view of the town and Winters had the men lying low on the road so they could not be seen. Winters looked over the curve of the road and into the town studying it. A sign that hung from a building squeaked as the breeze moved it.  
Scooting back down to Welsh he looked at him. "I want you to take the first straight up the middle, hard and fast. We have to move quickly. I'll be right behind you with 2nd and 3rd"  
Checking one more time over the ridge of the road he was satisfied. Looking at his watch more out of habit than necessity he prepared himself. "GO!" he said to Welsh.

"LET'S GO, FIRST! LET'S GO!" Welch waved them forward and got to his feet leading the company over the hill. Luz followed close behind.

.Jackson laid low as Winters moved down the road in a half yell/half whisper said, "GO! GO! GO!" The men towards the front got up and ran down in road towards the town. He was with 2nd and they got up to run behind them when machine gun fire came down on them from out of nowhere. There was no recourse but to dive into the ditch alongside the road. A trail of bullets streamed passed him cutting down some men. Screaming they fell and didn't move.

Deacon ducked and covered diving for the ditch. Behind him he could hear someone yelling, "MOVE THOSE MGs! MOVE THOSE MGs, DAMN IT!" Looking back he could see it was Strayer frantically waving them forward. He stayed put unsure to what to do. It looked like suicide to step out into the open.

Winters couldn't believe is eyes. The few men that made it close to town were mowed down in the road. Upon hearing Strayer he tried to move his men.  
"LET'S GO! LET'S GO!"

"WE'RE IN THE OPEN!" someone yelled.

"GO! GO!" Winters ordered again but no one moved. "GET 'EM GOING, BUCK! FOLLOW ME, MEN!" he ran down the road but still no one followed. Looking at the men in the ditch he kept yelling at them. "MOVE OUT! MOVE OUT!" All around him bullets hit the ground or bounced off of trees or road posts. It was as though a Divine Hand was protecting him. "MOVE OUT OF THAT DITCH! WE ARE NOT GETTING KILLED OUT HERE, BLITHE!" he grabbed the private and pulled him out and onto the road. Immediately he made his way to the other side jumping over the ditch and running into the field. "GO! THERE'S NO COVER HERE! GO! GO!" he was pulling men out of the ditches and kicking them to make them move. The field afforded some cover.

Deacon went sprawling onto the road when Winters grabbed his collar and pulled him. Immediately he was on his feet following Blithe into the field. There was tall grass and buildings between them and the machine gun.

Jackson ran across the road, bullets trailing him. He dove across the opposite ditch and landed face first in the dirt. Just as quickly he was up and running until he was behind a building. Rifle in hand he stopped, leaning against the building trying to catch his breath. To his right some men quickly set up their machine gun and began firing on the German position. Peering around the corner of the building Jackson saw muzzel fire spitting out of a window. Taking aim he fired at a shape that looked like a head. With a scream the German hit the floor.

Eugene was one of the first to run up the hill and into the town. He managed to hide behind a building with machine gun fire on it. He hid behind one of the pillars, hiding his face so he wouldn't get shrapnel in it.

Liebgott, Martin, Malarkey and Lipton all ran up the hill also. Each of them going in different directions. Shifty was right behind him. He kicked a fence open and hid in a chicken coup just as two guys ran behind him. One of them was hit, the other pressed up against the wall of a building.

Of course Luz had to be the second one to move out. He was with Lt. Welsh running up the hill and hiding behind a tiny brick building.

"Where the fk is everybody?" hollered Lt. Welsh. "Where did everybody go?"

"I have no idea!" replied Luz, firing off a few rounds and hearing radio static every now and again.

Frank ran between buildings close behind Winters and Martin. The machine gun nest was well established in a window around the corner making it impossible to move. Martin fired on it but it did little good. A man trying to show him the position of a shooter in an upper window was shot and collapsed. He helped to pull him back to safety calling for a medic.

Eugene ran forward and dragged the wounded man back to relative safety. The soldier had been shot in his shoulder, clean exit wound.

Sulfa and a bandage came next as Eugene kept trying to talk to the man to see if he needed anything but the guy kept screaming. Finally Eugene looked at him. "Enough! It's not that bad! You're fine! I need to know if your hit anywhere..." With that machine gun fire erupted near him sending bullets into the man below him. He grabbed his dog tag and ran from the gun fire which seemed to follow him.

Wade saw a man go down and tried to reach him but machine gun fire kept him at bay. "Hold on! I'm coming!" he tried to reassure the young soldier. Blood was pooling around his body as he reached out calling Wade. Trying again to reach him a row of bullets streamed passed him making him pull back behind the corner of the building. The soldier became quiet and didn't move. Somebody else called "MEDIC!" as Wade looked at the lifeless face of the boy soldier. With a sigh he ran behind the building toward the yelling.

Winters tossed a grenade at the window and it exploded sending chunks of debrie flying but the firing continued.

Jackson kept firing at the top windows when he saw movement in them. " O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me," he spoke out loud. All around him were explosions and rifle fire.

"JACKSON!" someone yelled at him. "TO YOUR LEFT! TO YOUR LEFT!" Looking he saw a hand throw something out of a window. It was a potato masher. Landing in the alley beside him he ducked as it exploded. Brick dust covered his back but he shook it off as he moved away to the other side.

Shifty stayed hidden in the chicken coup and saw the man against the wall get hit by a sniper and colapse. Aiming his rifle he fired a shot right in the sniper's head. He then concentrated his focus on a building on the corner of the street and fired a shot his way, killing another German soldier firing the machine gun. Next thing he knew bullets were coming his way and killing the chickens, he turned his head as chicken blood splattered him. "AW, GAWD!" he shouted.

Meanwhile Eugene was trying very hard to not get hit by the same machine gun fire as he ran past Shifty. "How you doin', Powers?" he yelled. "I'll see you in a bit!" He ran faster away from the machine gun fire.

Welsh yelled that he needed covering fire as he and two others fired on the machine gun causing the German to duck. In amazement Doc watched as Welsh ran out into the street toward the firing barrel that was aimed at Shifty and watched him throw a grenade into the window. It exploded and that ended its deadly reign. "GUARNERE! CLEAR THAT SECTOR ON THE RIGHT!" someone yelled and he ran behind Bill and up the street.

Shifty sighed and saw Lipton run towards him. "You alright Shifty?" He just gave a thumbs up, panting heavily. "We gotta take that warehouse. Shifty! Hammer those windows." With that Shifty began to take out the windows.

"We've got to clear these buildings. Guarnere, you and Frank start clearing these buildings. Two to a house," Winters yelled at the others.

"Yes sir," they both said and began with the nearest building. "Break the glass, Frank," he said to him as they stood on either side of the door. With a nod he smashed a window pane in the door and Guarnere tossed a grenade inside. It exploded and they rushed inside firing at any movement.

Gould had bandaged several men pulling them away from danger. But this time he was to pulled out of danger. Helping a man that had been shot he was trying to stop the bleeding when a German soldier emerged from a hole that had been exploded in a wall. Looking at Gould the German said something to him and pulled out pistol. As he aimed it at Gould someone shot him and he collapsed in a bloody mist. Gould looked up to see Jackson holding a pistol. "Thanks, Jackson," he smiled up at him. Jackson nodded and headed down the brick street.

Lipton ran up one of the stairs on the outside of a building. Clearing the room inside before looking back over town and hearing a loud explosion. "They've got a zero!" he shouted. "Move! Get out of the street! Go!"

Meanwhile, Eugene was bandaging a man who'd had a head injury. Behind him a building exploded sending rubble flying his way. Shielding the injured man with his body he waited until the debrie stopped and then continued bandaging.

Shells exploded a few streets over and slowly moved towards them when they heard Lipton yelling to move. He, Guarnere and several others ran for safety towards the edge of town.

Jackson was helping clear out a building when a German shell hit a building. He heard Liebgott yelling for Tipper over and over. Seeing a couple of men standing looking at something in shock he rushed up and watched as Liebgott was comforting an injured Tipper. Tip's leg was shattered and smoke wafted up through a half empty boot as blood dribbled down his face.  
"It's okay, Tip. We're gonna get you fixed up. Guys, wanna give me a hand here. Come'on." He helped carry Tipper to safety.

They had the Germans on the run. Jacobs and Markinson set up their machine gun in a window and brought down retreating German in a swamp behind the town. Finally they could begin to breath a little. Winters was looking over a map of the town he had found in the town hall when Strayer asked him if it was safe to move the wounded. Winters told him it was and they came out of the building carrying some wounded men.

Eugene found himself helping transport some of the wounded to a near by field hospital set up in one of the buildings. Wounded men and the stench of death surrounded him, other men kept looking to him for what to do. So he gave orders as best he could.

Wade followed them as they carried Tipper into the building and laid him on the floor. Opening his shirt he checked him for bullet wounds. Small pieces of glass were embedded in the side of his face and his chest. Carefully cutting away his pants a part of Tipper's leg and foot had been blown away.

"Am I gonna be alright, Doc?" Tip asked him.

"Yeah, you're gonna be fine, Tip. It's not all that bad," he reassured him as he gave him a shot of morphine and sprinkled sulfa on the leg before bandaging it then started plucking out pieces of glass from his face and chest.

In the meantime Gould was attending to a solder with a bullet wound to his side. Trying to stop the bleeding his hands were red with blood, "I need to get him somewhere so I can take out the bullet," he told a Sergeant.

"They've got a field hospital set up down the street."

"Well, let's get him there," he told him. This was when he loved being a medic the most, when he could order men who outranked him.

"Luz!" Winters called out to him. "Call for some ambulances for the wounded," he ordered him.  
Walking away a sniper bullet hit the ground and shattered sending a piece into his left calf. Yelling out in pain he leaned against the side of the building to keep from loosing his balance. "Damn!" he yelled out with a rare cuss word.

Jackson was leaning against the building where the hospital was set up lighting a cigarette when he heard the shot and saw Winters almost fall.

"SHIFTY! WE GOT A SNIPER!" he called out. "I'll get him, Capt'n," he called out to him throwing the cigarette down and running to the end of the block. Peeking around the corner of the building he scanned the area trying to figure out where the shot had come from. Looking over to where the bullet had broken a brick in the street he quickly deduced from the angle that it had to have come from the top floor of the bank building two blocks over. Calculating the distance he changed the setting on his scope and looked through it scanning the row of windows on the top floor.

Winters hobbled to the field hospital. "Captain Winters!" called Eugene, running towards him. "You okay? Here let's go get you sitting down so I can take a look at it."

With Doc's help he crawled up onto a table, blood dribbled down his boot. "All this time without a scratch, Doc, and what happens? A lousy sniper," he grumbled.

"Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave," he said to himself as he took aim at a man holding a rifle barrel out of the top window of the building. Carefully he took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.

Hearing the rifle fire he looked at Eugene. "And that, Doc, should be the end of our friendly neighborhood sniper," he chuckled.

Eugene smirked and took Winters' boot off. Grabbing a pair of tweezers and some hooch he set out taking the piece of shrapnel out of his leg. He got the piece out and held it up for him. "There it is. You're lucky it was a miss." He assured him and put the piece in a tiny pan.

Dick sucked air between his teeth when Eugene took out the fragment of bullet surprised that something so small could hurt so bad. After that Buck Compton came inside, his helmet in his hands "What's the plan chief?" he asked Winters.

Looking at Buck he grinned. "Make a thorough sweep of the buildings making sure there aren't any more snipers Set up guards around the city especially, on the main roads in and out, and we sit and wait until reinforcement get here." He nodded at Buck. "Oh, and send Luz in here. I need him to call regiment. I need to know why the wounded haven't been moved out of here."

Buck nodded his head. "Yes sir. Hey, you gonna be alright?" he questioned.

Eugene grabbed some hooch and a small cloth and began to clean the wound so it wouldn't get infected and listened to the two talk.

Winters sucked air again when Eugene clean his wound. "Yeah ... yeah, if Doc don't kill me first," he teased. "Thanks, Buck."

"If you'd stop squirming around maybe I wouldn't be tryin' to kill ya Cap'n," he teased. He liked these men, they all had a good sense of humor.

"I'll be getting back, Dick. I'll see if I can't find out why these wounded aren't being moved. Luz is in a conference with Lt. Welsh. See you around." With that he put his helmet back on and left the building.

In a few hours the town was secure and the wounded sent to the rear. The men could relax a little while they waited for the other companies to get to them.

* * *

The village now calm the men began exploring it. Eugene found himself under a tree outside the field hospital. He had fallen asleep after taking care of most of the wounded men, grateful for the rest and a bit of food even if it was stale.

Frank peered through the glass of a shop, his hands on either side of his face trying to make out what he was seeing. The sign above the door said "Boulangerie". Opening the door a little bell tinkled and he snickered. Inside was a counter with a glass case. Inside the glass case were loaves of dark brown bread. Moving around to the back of the counter he opened it and pulled out a loaf sniffing it.  
"MMmmm, pumpernickle," he grinned and broke it open. He could tell it was at least day old but still edible. It melted like butter in his mouth. Picking up another loaf he went to find Luz.

"I got three Ladies and a pair of deuces," Jackson said laying the cards down on the table, stump of a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Someone had found a small table and several of the men entertined themselves with a game of poker.

"Shit, Jackson! That's three hands in a row you've won. Lady luck must be on your side," Malarkey protested. "Beats my pair of Jacks," he threw down his hand. The others moaned also throwing down theirs. The small group was playing in the middle of the debris filled street in the shade of a bombed out brick building.

"What can I say?" he chuckled, throwing away the butt and gathering the matchsticks he just won."You do her just right she'll be good to you. My deal!"

"I'm almost out of matchsticks," Skip Muck complained.

"Don't worry 'bout it, Skip. They'll soon be mine. Five card draw," he announced dealing out the cards again.

"Look what I found, Wade," Gould smiled as he set an old turntable on the steps of the building and turned the crank.

"Where did you find that?"

"It was sitting here on the sidewalk. I guess some German was trying to steal it and left it here. Listen to this." He lowered the needle onto a record and they listened.

Winters was talking with Nixon when he heard the music and they stopped to listen.

"Who is that singing?" Nixon asked.

"I don't know," Winters told him.

Listening for a moment he asked again. "What's she singing about?"

"I don't know but it is beautiful."

"Yeah, it is."

"How many?" Jackson pointed at different men. "Two for you, three for you, three for you, and three for the dealer. What the ...?" he listened to the music. "Sounds like Lady Luck singing again. Alright ... I bet two matchsticks and raise you two more." He started humming along with the music.

Shifty looked over at Doc and decided to join him under the tree, putting his stuff down and sitting next to him.

This woke Eugene up. He open his eyes a bit and peered over. "How you doin', Darryl?" he asked.

"Doin' just fine Doc. I tell you, you scared the mess out of me trying to dodge those machine guns. How's Captain Winters?" he asked.

"Captain Winters? Oh, he's fine. Just a small wound."

Perconte saw the men playing cards and walked over to them. He was still holding the two loaves of bread. "Hey, you guys seen Luz? I can't find him."

"Whatchu got there, Perco?" Jackson asked him looking at the bread. 'Is that fresh bread?"

"It's day old bread. There's more in that bakery around the corner. Have you seen Luz?" he asked them again.

"I ain't seen him. Any o' you fellas see him?" Jackson asked. They all voiced their no's. "Give me a piece of that bread."

"You go get your own," he told him and walked off.

Jackson looked at his hand and at the retreating back of Perconte and made a decision.

"I fold," he threw down a pair of aces and a pair of tens. "I'm gonna get me some of that bread." He got up and went around to the bakery followed by the other men who were curious as to what he was. Finding the bakery he went in and found a loaf bread. The others scrambled for the other loaves. Shortly he was back at the table tearing off hunks of bread and eating it.

Luz smirked watching a flustered Perconte walking around. Sitting up in the tree Doc and Shifty were under he was careful not to make a noise. He had a perfect view of the city. Rubble littered the streets and buildings were half blown up but then he saw Perconte nearing the tree. Picking off a few nuts he held them in his hand. He had plans. Taking careful aim he threw it at his friend's head then hiding behind the foliage.

"Hey, Shifty ... have you seen Luz?" he asked him. Something hit his helmet with a PLINK and he saw a small nut as it glanced off his helmet but paid it no mind. "I've got some bread for him." Another nut hit his helmet harder this time. Noticing there was no nuts falling on anyone else he looked up into the tree scanning it. He didn't see anything and shrugged but then made out the shape of a familiar boot that was attached to a leg. "Luz? Is that you up there?"

"No, it's just a figment of your imagination, Perco," he smirked and jumped down from the tree. "Whatcha got there?" He eyed the bread, his stomach making gurgling noises.

"I found some pumpenickle bread and thought you'd like some. It still fresh," he handed the loaf to him. "Where's that music coming from?"

* * *

His stomach now full of bread Jackson was now feeling sleepy. "Deal me out, guys. Here, divvy up my matchsticks if you want. I'm gonna try and find a place to take a nap." He remembered seeing what looked like a hotel on the other side of town so he headed there. He couldn't believe the devastation of the town. Bricks and mortar were strewn everywhere along with shattered glass and broken and burned furniture. A huge hunk of the hotel was blown out of the top corner but otherwise was intact. Slipping inside he went up the elaborately carved staircase to the first floor where he found a bed that was made up. Taking off his gear and jacket he laid down on the soft mattress and was sound asleep in minutes.

"Hey, thanks Frank," Luz muttered as he laid down in some grass rubbing his now full stomach. "I tell ya if that lady keeps on singing she'll have all of us asleep in no time."

"Yeah, but it sure is pretty," Perconte sat down next to him. "This bread is so good. I'm glad I found it."

"Hey Perconte, you got any more of that bread? I'll give you a trade, got some cheese here," Eugene asked and rummaged in his pack, taking out the tube of cheese.

"Cheese!" he said surprised "Yeah! Yeah! Here ya' go, Doc!" he tore a big hunk off and handed it to him. "Where'd you find this, Doc?" he said holding the tube and looking at it.

"You know just laying around in some Kraut pack. Hey, keep it. Got more where that comes from." He gladly took the bread and started to eat it right away.

" Cheddrick ... Cheedorkah ... Cheddarksekse," Frank tried to read and squirted some on a bread. Taking a bite he smiled "Mmmm, Cheddar." He squirted more on the bread and gulped it down.

Eugene smirked. "Is it any good, Perconte?" he questioned chuckling. The man had cheese all over his chin. "Guess it is," he laughed. "Hey Frank, you got something on your face."

Wiping the cheese off his chin he licked it off his finger. When he finished he gave a satisfied sigh and laid down in the soft grass with his arms behind his head. "That was delicious," he said. "Now for a bit of a nap." He closed his eyes and sighed and dozed off.

Shifty looked over and chuckled. "Doc, what did you put in that cheese tube? It shut him up in no time. You should keep some more of that around, might come in handy later."

Eugene chuckled, taking a sip of water from his canteen. "I did nothing to that cheese, Powers, though you do have a great idea. Hey, maybe one day I'll do something like that."

"Jesus, Doc, remind me to not take anything you offer to me. You scare me sometimes." They both laughed.

Sitting in a couple of chairs with their feet propped up on the burned table Winters, Nixon and Welsh relaxed and talked together.

"When do you think Dog, Fox and the other companies will get here?" Nixon asked Winters.

"It's hard to tell," Winters said after looking at his watch. "Depends on how much trouble they stir up."

"The 2nd, 4th and 12th Armored Divisions are suppose to meet up with us, too, as well the 2nd Rangers and no telling who else. Carentan will be the gathering point as well as the main HQ when they get it set up," Welsh reminded them.

"Then this will be a major place for the Army's brass," Nixon commented as he took as drink from his canteen. "Bah! That's water," he fussed and pulled out another canteen that contained his favorite whiskey. Taking a deep drink he finished with an "AH! That's more like it. I wonder if this town has a liquor store somewhere?"

Winters and Welsh both snickered and shook their heads.

Jackson dreamed of his brother and could see him sleeping in a bunk heading to the Pacific Theatre. It was as though he then there he was there, facing him and and grinning. Both of them opened their mouths to speak but nothing came out so he had to settle with waving and then he was gone. He began to hear the rumbling of tanks drawing closer and it woke him. Looking out a window he could see they were American. Stretching he then put on his gear and made his way down the stairs to let the Captain know.

Deacon, who had been guarding the main road into the town, spoke into a walkie-talkie. "Luz," he spoke into it, "tell the Captain we have Sherman's and infantry approaching. It looks like the whole damn American Army is headed our way."

Luz had reached Winters and then he made his way to where Doc and Perconte were resting. "Hey Luz, what's going on? We heading out?" Doc asked him.

"Well," said Winters to both Nixon and Welsh. The three of them were still relaxing. "It looks like Lt. Colonel Strayer has found his way to us. Let's look lively." Nobody moved, not even Winters. They all laughed together.

"He'll find his way to us," Nixon said.

"Yeah," nodded Winters. "Luz!" he called over to him. "Tell Deacon to send them here to us."

Luz nodded his head and began to chatter on his radio to get the word across to Deacon. When that was over he was finally able to relax a bit so he took some of the bread Perconte gave him and he began to eat, slowly, just enjoying a bit of rest.

Deacon listened on the walkie-talkie. "Roger that."

The military convoy was led by a jeep with Strayer on the passenger side. When they reached Deacon, Strayer had him get in the jeep and show him where Winters was waiting.

Eugene had finally fallen asleep when he heard the rambling of a jeep nearby. He groaned softly. "Not another jeep," he complained and rolled over onto his back keeping his eyes closed.

Winters watched as Strayer's jeep drove up to them followed by three other companies. The town filled up with exhausted soldiers who sat or laid down where ever they could find a spot. Winters and Nixon stood and greeted Colonel Strayer.

"How's your men, Winters?" he asked him in that familiar gruff voice.

"They're fine, sir," he answered. He and Nixon sat with him catching him up with everything and then listened as they heard about their new objective.

"Hey, Doc," Perconte spoke as he watched the three officers conversing. "I wonder what they're talking about?"

"Who knows, Frank," Eugene answered. "Maybe we're moving out again here soon. Most of the men are beginning to get restless."

"Like you, Doc?" chuckled Shifty.

"Not likely, Powers. I could always do with a breather and a chance to not be patching up somebody's guts hanging from their stomach."

"Eeww," Frank sneered. "That's a real lovely thought there, Doc. Sorry I asked."

"That's what you get for asking, Perco," Malarkey teased him as he took a drink from his canteen.

"Why don't you just shut-up, Malark," Perconte was feeling sick and laid down, rubbing his small paunch of a belly over stuffed with bead.

"This is your new objective," Strayer told Winters, Nixon and Welsh as he pointed on a map. "You're to lead your company into a small area outside of St. Lo. Once there, you will dig in and secure the area. You will continue to make patrols around the area and clear out all hostiles. Supplies will be sent to you when we can get them to you. According to the information we have gathered, there is a perfect place for you in an old barn. From the barn, you can see all surrounding areas. We will supply you with a Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun that you can store in the hayloft. The barn is here." Strayer said as he pointed on the map. "We are making a thrust on Bayeux and eliminate any hostilities surrounding it."

"With all due respect, sir, but it seems Easy is always fighting by itself with little backup if any."

"Colonel Sink and I have all the confidence in you and your men. Make sure your men get all the supplies you need before you go. We're setting up a chow line as we speak. Be sure your medics are properly supplied. You're gonna have a hell of a fight on your hands when you get there."

"Yes sir," he answered not happy with the news. "Nix, let's get our boys fed before we tell them the news."

"Yes sir," and he called his NCOs to help spread the news about the chow line.

Thirty minutes later Easy was standing in line with their mess kits out. "I am so hungry I could eat a horse," Perconte said.

"A horse, Perco? That's disgusting. Why you wanna eat one of your family?" Luz laughed and smacked him on the back "Only joking, Perco. Hey, wonder what they're serving today? I think more spuds are in order. Whatd'ya think?"

"Just so long as I don't have to peel them," he said as he moved forward with the line. From big pots cooks dipped out some beef stew, boiled potatoes and some kind of green leafy vegetable. In a corner was ladled some chocolate pudding. "Come on, Luz, let's sit on those steps," he said and went to sit down on some brick steps in front of a half of a building. Kicking away some of the debris he sat down and began to hungrily gulp down the food.

George followed behind Perconte as he usually did. "Hey Perco, ease up there buddy. Don't want Doc Roe to have to save your skinny little butt." With that he took a large bite out of the potatoes.

"I'm so hungry I could eat that nasty spaghetti we had in boot camp," Perconte said between shovels of food. "Mmmm, this green stuff is so good."

"Army noodles with ketchup, Perco. Hey, slow down buddy, you're gonna choke one day and I won't be there to help ya. Or Doc Roe for that matter. I wonder how the Sergeant is doing?"

"Mmmm, sounds good about now," he chuckled as he ate some boiled potatoes. "What's this green vegetable?" he asked eating it. "Spinach. I hate spinach," he said but continued eating it. "Mmmm, it's good."

Luz shook his head. "You are a crazy little man, Perco," he smirked and set his beef stew to the side, listening to some of the radio chatter. He could hear Winters' voice and a few others as well.

"Is that Winters? What's he saying, Luz?" Frank asked a bit concerned.

"Something about shooting you," he smirked. "I think we might be heading out again. I can't make it out, too much static." He neglected his food and lit a cigarette. "Damn," he muttered.

Winters made a decision. "Nix, call them up," he said, his tone sounded unhappy.

"Yes sir," Nixon replied. "EASY! CIRCLE UP!" he called out. He was not happy either.

Frank finished his meal and was eying Luz's unfinished pudding when the call went out. "Now what?" he said out loud.

Eugene was randomly wandering around, not looking at anything in particular when he heard Nixon call out. He joined the men in the little formation and stood fast, wondering what was going on. Next to him was Luz, Malarkey, Liebgott, Martin, Cobb and Shifty.

Winters waited until everyone was there before starting. Taking a deep breath he began.

"We have a new objective, men. We're going into an area outside of St. Lo and begin a clean-n-sweep of the whole area around it. Our base will be a a barn where we'll set up a .50 Cal Machine gun. Expect to meet hostilities wherever we go. Dog, Fox and Baker will take Bayeux. You NCOs, make sure your men have extra ammo. We leave in 30 minutes from this position. Dismissed. Doc, I need to talk to you."

Eugene's eyebrow was furrowed. You could tell he was in a deep concentration. He kept going over the list of supplies he had and wondered who would breathe their last on this mission. He walked to the side. "Captain Winters?"

Winters put his hand on his shoulder. "Doc, make sure you medics have plenty of supplies. I'm just afraid we're going into a bad area. Keep on the alert, Doc. Strayers said there's reports of SS and they have an especial hatred for medics, for some reason. We'll be by ourselves out there, Doc."

"We're paratroopers Captain Winters, we're supposed to be by ourselves." He gave a small smile "We've got enough supplies. I'm just glad I was able to get some from that hospital I was at yesterday." He kicked a rock with his boot "You can count on me, Captain."

Winters nodded with a heavy sigh.


End file.
